What I Find In You
by animeKS
Summary: Kaoru, a misunderstood homeless girl. Kenshin, a rich man in need of someone to take care of his son. Can they find what they need with each other?
1. The Introduction

**_This is so exciting! A new story in such short notice? I'm really trying here for you guys. I hope you like the new plot line. Most of mine will be similar in some sort of fashion. If you don't catch it, I'll try to remember to bring it up in the last chapter. Happy reading. :)_**

**_As always, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin... if I did, it probably wouldn't be as awesome as it was originally._**

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Running through the rain in nothing but a blue jacket, old drenched jeans and sneakers that had definitely seen better days, Kaoru Kamiya tried to find the house that her friend, Misao, had instructed her to go to. She had been looking for it for what seemed like forever. Running through expensive neighborhoods looking for one house when they all looked alike... she was about to give up. "Just a little bit longer." She whispered to herself. Looking at houses left and right, she finally came upon a strange house that definitely stood out. Not in size or in shape, but there was something about it that she couldn't put her finger on that made it different from the ones around it. Taking a closer look, she sighed. This was it; the house she'd been looking for.

She quickly made her way into a dry area. Ringing her hair out, she tried to make herself presentable. She'd washed her clothes this morning, not that that had done any good. She wanted to look at least decently presentable. Kaoru took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell, sending a loud ring through ears. Not expecting it, she took a surprised step back before straightening herself and approaching the door again. At first, she didn't think anyone would answer. Slowly but surely a figure approached the door, eventually opening it to her.

He gave her a glance and then looked back inside the house. "Please stop running around up there!" He shouted and then faced her again. "Can I help you, young lady?" He gave her a small but guarded smile.

"Umm, I.. uh, I'm here about a job..." She whispered, avoiding his eyes by looking at her shoes. She could hear the laughter in his tone when he responded to her.

"I'm sorry. You'll have to speak up; I didn't quite catch that."

"I was told that there was a need for a babysitter here..." She spoke a little louder, still not meeting his gaze.

"There is, actually." He paused.

His hesitancy made her look up, into his amethyst eyes. She noticed him looking her over. She gave him a quick once-over as well. He wasn't tall at all, which surprised her, but was surprised her even more was his long flaming mane. He looked like he was dressed to go to a funeral; a black suit and tie. He looked nice; very professional.

"There you are." He gave her another smile, drawing her attention from her thoughts. "Like I was saying; there is a need for a caregiver for a child here. I'm a little surprised to see someone so young applying though. Not to be rude, but I was expecting someone with a little more experience."

She sighed. Did she really look that young? "Sir, I'm almost twenty-two years old... do you really think that's too young?"

His eyes widened at her confession. "I apologize." He looked over her again. "I must say I'm surprised."

She smiled at the sincerity she heard. "I have an ID if you'd like to see it."

"That won't be necessary." He replied. They stood there in silence, before he cleared his throat. "I'm being incredibly rude." Taking a step back, he cleared a path for her. "Please, come in."

She walked past him and into the foyer of the house; it looked normal enough. "Thank you."

He closed the door and walked ahead of her before turning towards her. He opened his mouth to say something, but a crash sounded throughout the residence. "Damnit." He cursed under his breath. There was stomping from upstairs, a few shouts from a woman, and before she could move, a small figure flew down the stairs and into her body, making them both crash to the floor. She wrapped her arms around the figure, taking the weight of the fall; knocking the air out of her.

She bit back the curse that threatened to pass through her lips. Looking down at what was on top of her, she noticed a young boy with black hair and brown eyes. He stared back at her with suspicious wonder.

The man was at her side in a second, kneeling beside her. "Are you alright?" He asked her and the little boy.

"I'm okay. Are you okay?" She asked the child, attempting to sit up, her arm still supporting his weight.

"I'm okay." He replied. "Are you?" He slid off of her lap.

"I'm fine, really, thank you." She took a deep breathe, making sure nothing was hurting. She looked back at the young boy. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Yahiko!" The voice from earlier shouted. "Don't you dare run away from me."

Kaoru looked up to see a snobby middle-aged woman who looked like she was attempting to be a hooker more than a babysitter. Her shorts were half way up her butt and and her cleavage showed way too much for a child to see. She dressed like she was hoping she'd pass for a woman in her mid-twenties... and she failed miserably. She grabbed the boy, Yahiko, by the arm, yanking him off the floor.

"Ms. Karamura, I do believe I told you not to use physical force against my son." The man who let her in growled as he gently took Yahiko away from the woman.

'_Wait, his son? What?'_ There was no way he was old enough to have children... let alone one so young.

"Dad..." He said before the woman could reply. "Who is she?"

They all looked back at Kaoru, who was still on the floor, not sure what to do.

"Who indeed." He smiled, humorlessly. He extended his hand to her.

She took it and helped herself up. "I'm Kaoru Kamiya." She held her hand out to the young boy. "Nice to meet you."

Yahiko gave her hand a distasteful look, earning a gentle flick to the ear from his father. "Don't be rude."

He reluctantly placed his palm against hers, wrapping his fingers around her hand, giving a single shake before letting go.

She gave him a small smile before offering her hand to his father. "Nice to meet you as well."

He gently grabbed her hand, gave a sad excuse for a hand shake and then let her go of her hand as well. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Mr. Himura, I would've gotten the door, but Yahiko has been so rambunctious lately... I couldn't get to it fast enough. I didn't mean for you to have to have to deal someone like her." The disgust the woman felt for Kaoru wasn't hidden at all.

"Ms. Karamura, don't worry yourself. I'm happy I answered the door."

"But... sir, look at her."

Huffing, Kaoru crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her. "Excuse me? What about the way I look?" She looked down at herself and tried not to cringe.

"You look like a homeless rat." She sniffed.

"You're almost right..." She sighed, causing both adults to stare at her in disbelief. "I'm homeless, but I have never nor ever will be a rat." She hadn't always been homeless, just for awhile, once hard times had fallen on her. She was trying to pick up her life though, and this job, had she gotten it, would've been the first step. Now she was going to have to start all over again. Kaoru looked at Mr. Himura, and gave a slight respectful bow. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

She turned towards the door, but noticed the woman try to grab Yahiko again. She looked back at them. "Physical punishment doesn't work on children, by the way."

"Don't pretend to know how to treat a child."

"Ma'am, I think I have a better clue than even you do." With that, she opened the front door, walked through it and closed it. She looked up at the sky; it was raining still. Sighing, she took off, heading towards the closest public place with outside shelter.

She didn't get far though, maybe two blocks, before a black car pulled up in front of her. She took an unsure step back before the window rolled down, revealing Mr. Himura. "Get in."

She looked at him, uncertain. "What?"

"Do you want the job or not?" He asked, already rolling up the window. She didn't waste any time in getting in the car.

"But... Ms.-"

"She's already broken my rules, I was just looking for a reason to fire her. You gave me that reason."

"Mr. Himura..." She began.

"It's Kenshin." He interrupted. "Only people I can't stand and businessmen call me by my last name."

"You don't know me, though."

"Then I guess you'll know when I make up my mind on if I like you as a person or not." He kindhearted smiled at her. "You don't believe in physical punishment, huh?"

"No, I don't. What's the point? All you're doing is hitting your children. What's the chance that they're actually going to understand what they're getting hit for? I believe in little taps but not actual hitting. Children need to learn responsibility, even at a young age. They need to be told what they did was wrong and why."

He nodded as if understanding her reasoning as he pulled into the driveway. He parked the car and turned to look at her. "How do you know so much about children at such a young age?"

She placed her head against the window, looking out at the rain the rolled down. "Because it's the same rules I use on myself when it comes to my daughter."

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**I'm trying a different anime this time, so it's kind of nerve-wracking. I don't want the characters to be too original. I want the to be how they are in the series, but keeping up with everything is so difficult. Sigh. Anyway, tell me what you think so far.**

**Ms Karamura is a very minor character, so don't overthink her part in this story, I just needed her so I could set the stage. **

**P.S. I know a lot of you want longer chapters, but if I did that, my suspense places wouldn't be right, so stick with me here and we'll see how it goes. **

_**I'm not going to lie, I feel as though this fanfiction is going to move pretty fast, though I still hope you really enjoy it. **_

_**-K**_


	2. First Night

**Oh my geez! Another chapter! Let me tell you I'm really pumped about this. Chapter 2. So excited. I have a great feeling about this story. :)**

**Again. I do NOT own Rurouni Kenshin.**

* * *

His breath caught in his throat and she looked back at him. "Are you okay?"

"You have a child?" He asked, stunned.

"Is it really so hard to believe?" She asked, giving him a strange look.

"Given your... situation, yes." He admitted, looking away from her.

"I wasn't always homeless." She admitted, making a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. "When I had her, we were doing pretty good. We lived with my parents, I went to one of the best high schools in Tokyo and then afterwards my parents threw me out." She looked at him. "I've been like this ever since."

He felt for her. "Where's your daughter?"

"My friend is keeping her for me."

"Do you get to see her often?"

She sighed. "Not often enough, but I don't have the means to see her, that and I hate getting her hopes up. Every time she sees me she asks, 'mommy, when do I get to go home with you'. I don't have an answer and I don't want to hurt her by just leaving her. That's why I really need this job; so I can get back on my feet and finally get my daughter back."

He looked at her. "Let's go inside. We can talk in there." He opened the car door and made his way around the car and opened the door for her. They quickly made their way up to the front door.

They made it inside before Yahiko came running out of the back room, screaming his head off. He saw Kaoru and launched himself into her arms. "What is it?" She asked as she picked him up, crossing her arm under his butt, supporting his weight. He was a little big to be picked up, but she wasn't going to reject him when he acted as though he needed her like his life depended on it. "Ms. Karamura is trying to hurt me."

"Yahiko, it's not nice to tell lies." The woman walked out from the back room.

"Ms. Karamura, I believe you were dismissed." Kenshin took a menacing step forward, his voice cold.

Kaoru took an unconscious step back, her arms tightening around Yahiko.

"Mr. Himura-" The woman started.

"I'll say it one more time. _Leave._"

She bowed slightly and scurried around him. Picking up her things, she practically ran out.

As Kenshin turned towards them, Kaoru immediately noticed his eyes. When she first saw him they were violet. Now they were amber... and void of all emotion. "Mr. Himura..." She started.

"Kenshin." He sighed, his body physically relaxing. "I told you to call me Kenshin."

"Are you all right?" She asked, before putting Yahiko, who was now squirming in her arms, down. He ran over to his father.

"I'm fine." He said as he placed his hand protectively on his son's shoulder. He noticed her tense up. "I apologize. I have somewhat of a temper."

Kaoru looked down at Yahiko, making Kenshin let out a humorless laugh. "Make no mistake, Ms Kamiya. I'd never hurt my son."

She nodded. "Kaoru." She smiled nervously at him.

He tilted his head, looking at her like she was some never-before-seen exotic animal. "Pardon?"

"You want me to call you Kenshin; call me Kaoru."

"Okay... Miss Kaoru." She made a face at him and he let out a soft laugh.

"So what do I need to know about this job?" She wanted to get down to business.

He led her towards the couch, motioning for her to sit down as Yahiko excused himself and rushed up to his room. Kenshin sat down beside her. "It's an every day job. If you want a day off, you ask two weeks in advance. You're to take care of my son from the time he wakes up until I get home. After that, it'll be your time. You can do what you want."

She nodded her head, looking into his violet eyes. "So I stay out of your way while you're home?"

His eyes widened slightly. _'Is that really were she went with that statement?'_ "No. You're free to join us, but Yahiko isn't your sole responsibility when I'm home. I'm not one of those parents who dump their kids off with some nanny. I enjoy my son's company more than anything."

She nodded. "I understand, thank you." She looked around the spacious room. It was pretty empty. Only a few chairs, the couch, a television set and a side table. "Well, when do I start?"

"Now if you'd like." He smiled at her.

She gave a nervous laugh and looked away. "I don't want to intrude so suddenly."

He reached for her chin and lifted her face, having her meet his eyes. "You're not intruding. If I didn't want you here, you wouldn't be here."

He was definitely blunt. "If you're sure." He nodded. "Do you mind if I take a few moments to familiarize myself with the house?" She asked.

"Not at all." He told her the directions to her room, and she headed for the stairs. "Miss Kaoru." He called.

She stopped at the stairs and turned back to him. "Yes?"

"If this works out, you'll have your daughter back in no time." He didn't know why he'd said it, but he felt as though she needed to know.

She only gave him a small, yet disbelieving smile. "Thank you." She walked up the stairs and into her room.

Quietly, she shut the door and just aimlessly walked around her room. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small by any means. It had a king sized bed which seemed to be new, a spacious closet- which she didn't need since she didn't have clothes- and a fully stocked bathroom connected to her room. She sighed and gave a sad little laugh. How different this was. Could she really get used to it? She was used to sleeping in shelters or even cold alleys when shelters got to crowded for her. She sighed and laid down on her bed and, rather quickly, went to sleep.

She didn't know what time it was when she woke up, but she popped up when she heard a fist connect with her shut bedroom door. "Yes?" She asked to whoever it was.

"Sorry if I disturbed you Miss Kaoru, I was just wondering if you were hungry."

'_Food' _She thought, making her stomach growl loudly. Her face turned red as she heard Kenshin chuckle on the other side of the door. "Um, yeah, I am thank you." She responded.

"Why don't you change clothes and meet us downstairs. We'll wait for you." She heard his voice fade away as he stepped away from the door.

Her heart skipped a beat. Change clothes? She jumped off the bed and swung the door, surprising him. She caught it before it slammed into the wall, and looked at him nervously. "Uh, sorry, I'm ready now." At his confused expression, she sighed. "I don't need to change." She started. "I don't have clothes to change in to." She motioned to herself. "This is it."

He sighed and bent his head. "I'm such an asshole."

She was confused at his meaning. He didn't know and it wasn't something she wanted to broadcast. "No you aren't." She smiled.

He looked her in the eyes. "Yeah, I am." He brought his wrist up, looking at his watch. "Eight-thirty. Damnit. Tomorrow's the start of the weekend. Unfortunately, I already have plans with Yahiko, so I'll have someone take you shopping."

She held up her hands. "No, please, don't worry about it."

"Miss Kaoru, you need new clothes. You're going to get them whether you like it or not."

"So you're telling me not to argue." Her voice had a hint of attitude in it, but she was trying to hide it.

He smiled. "Yes."

It was her turn to sigh. "Okay... if there's no way I can get out of it..."

"None."

"Fine. You win this round." He stepped out of her doorway and motioned her to exit and head down to the kitchen. She gave a forced smile and walked in front of him. When she made it downstairs she noticed Yahiko playing with the food on his plate. She stopped and her stomach growled again, luckily not as loud as it had before. Kenshin walked around her and pulled out a chair for her. She sat down and he took his seat at the end of the short table. "This looks amazing." Kaoru commented.

"Thank you." Kenshin smiled. "Do you cook?"

"Is it required?" She asked, nervousness overtaking her again.

"No, it's not required, but I'm not going to ban you from the kitchen."

"Ban me, please." He gave her an alert stare. "If you want your house to stay standing, don't let me near a stove...not even a microwave."

"How can you mess up cooking in a microwave?" Yahiko asked, giving her an idiotic stare.

"Believe me, there's definitely a way to mess that up."

Kenshin cleared his throat, sounding as though he was trying not to laugh. "I'm not going to ban you, but you know your limits. I trust that you can stay away from cooking if it's something you know you're bad at."

"Yes." She answered simply, looking down at her plate.

He noticed she hadn't touched her food. "Is everything okay?"

She looked up at him, and she saw the subtle worry in his gaze. "Fine. I'm just thinking. I'm not good at multitasking, so something even as simple and thinking and eating his hard for me."

"Do you want to-"

She shook her head. "No. Thank you, but no. I'm fine with keeping it to myself for now, but if I do need to talk, I'll tell you if you're willing to listen."

He gave her a slight nod. "Of course." She smiled. "Now eat." She gave a small giggle, nodded and then put a spoonful of food in her mouth.

Heaven.

* * *

**Alright you awesomely awesome readers, I need your opinions on what you think thus far. Of course, not everything is set with the story. I want more, a lot more, but what do YOU think? Is it worth reading?**

**-K**


	3. Pleasant Surprises

**Ah chapter 3! I could cry. I'm so excited I've gotten this far in such a short time. I hope you like it this far. :)**

**Still no own RK. Boo.**

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The next day came quickly. After waking up and putting on the same clothes that she had worn yesterday, Kenshin and Yahiko met her downstairs for breakfast and much like dinner the night before, it was silent. They would all try to start conversations, but it wouldn't go very far and soon they all just gave up. As Kenshin and Kaoru were cleaning up the dishes, he paused and turned to her. "I found someone to take you shopping." He smiled.

"Oh, you remembered that, huh?" She sighed.

"You thought I'd forget?" He looked amused.

"I was hoping." She muttered and he laughed.

"No, I didn't forget. I called a friend of mine last night and he and his girlfriend agreed to take you shopping today. They should be here at any time. We'll make sure to see you off before we leave." He resumed cleaning the dishes.

"Oh. Okay..." What was she supposed to say to that?

"I have to warn you, he's very protective about his girlfriend. She's sick a lot, and doesn't get out much, so he wanted me to emphasize that you aren't to put a strain on her. Though I think you'll be good for her. Between her brother and her boyfriend Sayo never has a moment of peace."

She paused as she tried to remember where she'd heard that name before. _'Sayo... Sayo...'_ "That name sounds so familiar." She thought out loud.

"Hey, Kenshin, where are you?" They heard a voice boom from the living room.

Kaoru whipped around as she recognized the voice. "Sanosuke?" She was astonished as she saw him walk into the kitchen.

When he saw her, he gave her a big goofy grin. "Well if it isn't the little missy." He walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, not caring that her hands were wet from dish washing. "How've you been?"

She pulled back. "I've been better. How are you? I didn't know you were friends with Kenshin." Her voice was slightly accusing.

He laughed good-naturedly. "What can I say? I meet people in the strangest way."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "I can't wait to hear about that."

Kenshin cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt you two, but how exactly do you know each other?"

Sano pulled her into his side again. "She's my baby cousin." He answered. "You should've told me her name last night."

"Yeah, because I really knew that was going to make a difference."

Ignoring him, Sanosuke turned around and beckoned someone to join them. A beautiful young woman entered the room. Kenshin had told Kaoru that she had been sick, but she looked completely healthy.

"Missy, this is Magdalia." She gave him a slight glare and he chuckled. "Sorry, this is Sayo."

She smiled as she held out her hand; the two girls gave a quick handshake and dropped their hands back to their sides. She'd known Sano was dating someone named Sayo, but she'd never met her. She was pleasantly surprised.

Kaoru leaned close to Kenshin. "Magdalia?" She whispered.

"It's a long story." He whispered back.

"Tsk, tsk. Secrets don't make friends." Sano shook his head.

"Seriously..?"

"Got a problem with it?" She grinned.

"You won't keep friends if you start acting like you're five." She replied.

"You don't count, Kaoru; you're family." He commented without thinking.

"Sano." Kenshin shook his head.

"Hey missy, you know I didn't mean anything by it, right?" Her cousin asked.

"Yeah, I know." But it still hurt to hear that she didn't count, even if he didn't mean it. She didn't count for a lot of things apparently.

Sayo stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sano tells me you have a daughter."

Kaoru smiled. That hurt even worse. It was like everything that hurt her was being thrown in her face right now. "Yeah." She whispered. "Um, I can't provide for her by myself right now, so my friend is keeping her for me until I figure something more permanent out."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Sayo said, taking a step back.

"No, don't be. You didn't know."

Sano got her attention. "Is Misao keeping her?" Kaoru nodded. "If she's gonna be in a safe environment, might as well be there, right?" Kaoru nodded again.

"Well, why don't we get going?" Sayo hooked arms with Kaoru and gently ushered her out of the room. Sano began to follow but Kenshin subtly got his attention. Kaoru looked over her shoulder until she couldn't see the two anymore.

* * *

At the mall, Kaoru was dragged into store after store, thrown in dressing rooms, clothes piled in behind her. She'd already bought what felt like hundreds of outfits. She looked at the huge amount of bags that her cousin was carrying. "You know I probably won't ever get to wear half of these outfits." She said to her cousin as they searched for another store to go into.

Sano smiled. "Yeah, but she doesn't get out much, so humor her. This is a present to you, and also a treat for her. She's really enjoying this." They looked at the woman as she happily strolled down through mall. She was practically glowing.

"Kenshin says she's sick, but she looks totally healthy."

"I... yeah, she's been really sick for the past few years, but we don't know what it is." He sighed.

"I'm sorry." She said, patting his arm.

"I'm sorry about your daughter too."

"Thanks." She smiled sadly.

"Do you ever know what happened to him?" He asked.

Trotting down memory lane wasn't something she wanted to do, but this was Sanosuke. She could talk to him about anything. "No... and honestly, as long as I never see him again, I don't care what happened to him."

He didn't say anything. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Sayo came up to her and dragged her into another store.

The rest of the day Sayo and Kaoru were inseparable. They laughed and joked together, Sayo would come in to dressing rooms with her to help her get clothes on before they went out to model for Sanosuke. Finally, at the end of the day, they were headed back to drop her off. Sano reached in the backseat where Kaoru was, holding a phone out for her. "Call Kenshin and tell him we're headed back, will you?"

She gave a nod. "Yeah, sure." Finding his name, she pressed the _call_ button. It rang twice before he picked up.

_"Himura."_ It was obvious he didn't look at who was calling.

"Hey Kenshin, it's Kaoru. Sano wanted me to call and tell you that we're headed back."

_"Oh, did you have a good time?" _He sounded distracted, like it was an automatic question, but he wasn't really listening to the answer.

"It was horrible." She replied, testing her theory.

_"That's good." _There was a long pause. _"Wait, what?"_

She smiled into the phone. "I was just seeing if you were really paying attention to what I said."

_"Sorry,"_ there was a sound of something, probably a pen, dropping,_ "you have my undivided attention. How'd it go?"_

"It went well, thanks. Sayo went a little overboard, but I guess I can't blame her."

_"So it all went well."_ He sounded distracted again.

"Yeah. You sound distracted."

_"Sorry, I'm actually in the middle of something."_

"That's fine. I'll let you get back to it, I just wanted to tell you that I was headed home."

_"Okay, see you when you get home."_ They hung up with each other and she handed the phone back to her cousin.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that she realized what they'd said. They'd both acknowledged it.

_Home._

She pressed her head against the cold window the rest of the ride. When they pulled into the driveway, she noticed another car- a familiar car. Her eyes widened as she met her cousins smiling gaze. Not waiting another second, she threw open the car door and raced inside. When she made it into the living room, she fell to her knees as tears started to fall down her cheeks. There sat Kenshin and Yahiko... with her best friend, Misao, and her precious daughter, Tsubame.

Her daughter didn't waste any time. She was on her feet and in her mother's arms in a matter of seconds. "Mommy!" She yelled. "I missed you mommy." She smiled into Kaoru's hair.

"I missed you too." She smiled, her tears still falling. She rose with her daughter in her arms and she made her way over to Misao. They gave each other a hug, which was awkward with Tsubame still in her arms.

She looked at Kenshin. "How did you do this?"

He shrugged. "I can do a lot of things when I put my mind to it." He was slightly avoiding her question.

"Geez Kenshin... I didn't think you'd be able to get them here that fast." Sano whistled in the doorway with Sayo at his side.

"Like I said, I can do a lot of things when I put my mind to it." He looked at the mother and daughter in front of him and smiled.

She went to Sano. "This is Sanosuke." She introduced her daughter to her cousin.

"Hi." He beamed at the child. "I'm Uncle Sano."

Kaoru's eyebrows rose. "You're her cousin, not her uncle, dingbat."

He made a noise in the back of his throat. "Uncle sounds closer than cousin."

"Then you're going to confuse her on what you really are to her."

He sighed. "I might as well be your brother."

She opened her mouth to reply and then shut it. He was right.

He grinned and leaned of her shoulder to smile at Misao. "Mark the date, Misao. I'm right."

She smiled back. "For once."

He stuck his tongue out.

"That's mature." Kenshin replied.

Kaoru gave a slight laughed. "Tsubame, this is Sayo." Tsubame waved shyly at the woman.

"Hi Tsubame, your mom has said nothing but great things about you." She smoothed the little girl's hair against her head.

Misao got up from her spot and joined the small group at the entrance.

"Mommy, can I be with you now?" Tsubame asked.

"Tsubame..." Misao started.

Kaoru shook her head at her friend. "Not yet sweetie, but soon. I promise. You're doing a great job and Aunt Misao's house. Just a little bit longer, okay?"

"Tsubame, we've got to go now." Misao said sadly. "Sorry, Kaoru. It's almost bedtime."

Kaoru nodded. "I understand." She kissed her daughter. "Okay, you've got to go with Aunt Misao, but I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay. I love you mommy."

Tears threatened to fall, but she wouldn't allow them too. "I love you too." They kissed each other and she handed her daughter back to Misao.

Misao took the young girl and then handed Kaoru a slip of paper. "Call any time."

"Thank you." She smiled sadly as she hugged them.

"We'll walk them out." Sano said, as he escorted them through the house, Yahiko bounding after them.

When they were out of view, Kaoru turned to Kenshin. "Why?"

She didn't have to ask any more than that. "I saw the way you looked when you talked about her; how much she really means to you." He paused. "You're really trying. Why shouldn't you be able to see your daughter?" He asked.

"I don't know what to say." She said as she made her way to him.

"That's alright."

She stopped in front of him. "Thank you."

He looked into her watery eyes. "You're welcome."

She searched his eyes, trying to find the words to say, but they weren't needed. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders; they drew each other close. "Thank you." She whispered into his shoulder.

"Any time." He meant it too.

* * *

**Reviews. Please. Yes, no, maybe so? It's picking up the pace here. I know how I started and I know how it's ending, I'm just not sure where I want the middle of the story to go. I hope you're enjoying this so far. :)**

**-K**


	4. Author's Note

A little Author's Note here.

I remember saying in my other two stories that I got bored with them half way through, and it's true- I did, but I still finished them even though I don't think they were the best they could be.

I wanted to let you know, I'm really hoping this one is going to be different. In a good way of course. It's going to be amazing and it's going to be finished. For definitely. I mean, it wouldn't just be unfair to me if I didn't finish, it'd be unfair to you, the reader, as well.

I'd like to give you all a little heads up though. The ending is actually completed. Like, I know how it's going to end, it's written out and ready to go, finished. Unfortunately, I'm still trying to get the middle of the story in working order, so it might take a few weeks (though I'm seriously pushing for days) before you see how it ends. I really do hope you enjoy the journey of this story though. It's new for me, and I want it to be perfect for the new anime that I'm trying to write for.

Anyway, thank you for getting this far, and I hope that you love the rest as well.

-K


	5. Your Past and Mine

**Everyone whose been reading this story (and even my other ones), I love you all. I hope you keep supporting me in my writings. **

**Unfortunately, I still don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

* * *

Kaoru slowly made her way down the stairs the next morning. She had cried herself to sleep last night; not because she was upset, but because she was happy that she got to see her pride and joy. As she walked in to the kitchen, dragging her feet, she stopped. Yahiko was in the middle of talking about her to Kenshin. They both froze as they spotted her.

"You look nice." Kenshin commented.

She looked down at herself and smiled. She had formfitting jeans that flared out at the bottom and a lilac tank top. "Thank you." She replied before looking at Yahiko. "Am I interrupting?"

"No." Kenshin replied.

"Yes." Yahiko looked away from her.

"Yahiko. I've already said-"

Kaoru cut him off. "It's fine. I can leave you two alone for awhile."

"Miss Kaoru..." Kenshin started.

"No, it's fine, really." Just as she took a step back, the doorbell rang.

"Shit." She heard Kenshin curse under his breath.

"Do you want me to get it?" She asked him.

He slid away from the table. "No, I'm expecting someone." He looked at his son. "Yahiko, go get your things." The little boy nodded before running passed Kaoru.

"Uh, I- uh." She didn't know what to do; she was at a complete loss.

Kenshin took her hand and put it in the crook of his arm and led her to the door. "You might as well meet her since she's a big part of Yahiko's life."

_Her._

His mother, perhaps?

Kenshin opened the door and it took all that Kaoru had not to gasp in wonder. The woman there was beautiful. She was slender but had the appropriate amount of curves. She had long black hair that fell passed her shoulders. She was very pale, but not in an unhealthy way. She was like perfection.

The woman saw Kaoru and her eyes widened. "Kenshin, I wasn't aware we were having sleepovers." She teased.

"She lives here." His voice was warm; kind. Like they were best friends.

"Oh, well excuse me." She stepped forward and grasped Kaoru's hand. "I'm Tomoe."

Kaoru almost choked. _No._ "Tomoe... Yukishiro?"

"Yes, do we know each other?" She tilted her head to the side, trying to place where she would have met her.

She shook her head and took a step away from them. "No, but I know one of your family members."

"Oh, are you friends?" She smiled.

That smile made Kaoru sick to her stomach. "No, not at all."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize; you didn't know." She met the woman's gaze. "Are you Yahiko's mom?"

"Yes." Her smile lit up the room; it was obvious she loved her son.

"I don't mean anything disrespectful by this, but you're not what I was expecting."

Kenshin passed her a disapproving glance. "That's a little inappropriate."

Tomoe rested her hand on Kenshin's shoulder. "It's okay." She looked at Kaoru. "I assume you mean because he doesn't look like either of us." Kaoru nodded. "I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later."

Yahiko ran down the stairs and pushed passed Kaoru, into his mom. "I'm ready." He beamed up at her.

She tapped his ear. "Sweetie, it's rude to push people."

He looked at Kaoru and shrugged, hooking his arms around his mom.

Kenshin shook his head. "We had an incident, so he's having a hard time adjusting."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tomoe asked.

"Do you want to know?" She nodded. Kenshin turned to Kaoru, "will you get Yahiko situated?"

"Sure." She looked at the young boy. "Can I help you with that?" She smiled. He looked at his mom, who nodded her approval.

He held up his bag and she took it; asking him to lead the way.

She placed his things in the car and then helped him in, making sure he was all set.

"I'm not a baby, you know, I can do it myself."

She smiled. "I know you can. Call it a maternal instinct. As a mother, I want to make sure you're all set to go."

"You're not my mom." He hissed.

"I know. I'm Tsubame's mom, but because I'm a mother, I know what it's like to want your child to be safe. Think of it as me helping your mom and dad to make sure that you're okay... they would do the same if the situation was flipped and they were helping my daughter."

"You like my dad." He whispered.

"What?" She wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"You like my dad, so you're trying to take my mom's place."

_'What?'_ She thought. "Sweetheart, I would _never_ try to take your mother's place. She's your mom, and no one can ever change that. I appreciate what your father did for me and my daughter." She looked in his eyes. "Does that make sense?"

"So you're not trying to be my mom."

"No, sweetheart. I respect your parents more than to try something like that."

"Promise?" He asked.

"Of course." She held out her pinky and they made an unbreakable promise. "Can we be friends?"

"Friends?" He tilted his head the way his mother did.

She tried not to laugh. "Yes."

"Uh... okay."

Unexpectedly, he leaned forward and hugged her. "Thanks, Kaoru." He whispered into her ear.

She smiled against his ear. "Any time."

Tomoe was suddenly there, asking her son if he was ready to go. "Thank you, Kaoru." Tomoe said to her as she started to walk back to the front door.

She turned and smiled. "No problem."

"Sorry about how I acted." Yahiko yelled at her as Tomoe went to shut the door.

"Don't apologize. We're okay now and that's what matters." She smiled and she went to Kenshin's side. "She's nice."

"She wasn't always like that. She used to be really closed off from people." He sighed. "We dated in high school and got married after we graduated. We divorced when Yahiko was two. I thought she'd draw back into herself, but she didn't." Kaoru noticed a small smile on his face. "She's getting married again in about eight months. They're really happy together." He shook his head as if pulling himself out of a memory as they pulled out of the driveway. "Sorry, I didn't mean to just unload all of that on you."

"It's okay, really." She stepped towards the door. "Ready to go in?" She asked.

"Yeah." He opened the door for her and then followed her inside. "So you know someone in Tomoe's family." He stated. He wanted her to tell him about it.

She nodded as she made her way into the living room. She sat down on the couch and looked at him, silently asking him to join her. When he sat down, she turned towards him, but avoided eye contact.

_'Where to start.'_ She asked herself. There was only one place to start: the beginning. "Um, I had Tsubame when I was seventeen." his eyebrows rose immediately. It wasn't often someone had children at that age, but it did happen. "I was friends with this guy and we were really close; I'd known him for years. One night, I was at a party and wanted to leave and I asked him to come pick me up. I knew he wouldn't be there since he said he had to stay home with his sister. He came and got me and was taking me home..." He slid closer to her as she told her story. Normally, she would've pushed him away, but she needed someone to understand; some to comfort her, she just didn't know why it was him. "I should have known something was wrong with all of his questioning. He kept asking, 'did you drink anything' and 'are you sure you feel alright'... I hadn't had anything, and I continuously told him that. I was only there because some of my girlfriends needed a designated driver but ended up having someone else drive them home. Anyway, he stopped at an abandoned park and asked me to take a walk with him. I did, and God I feel so stupid for it." She was trying not to cry.

Kenshin put his hand on her's which rested on her leg. "It's okay, take it slow."

"He pulled me off the walk path and pulled me into the forested area; he shoved me against a tree. He... he took advantage of me and then just left me there." She choked on a sob and her body quietly shook. She was baring her soul to this man... a man, when she would look back on it later in life, she barely knew. "I'd never been with anyone before." She took quick breaths. "I walked to the road where someone finally saw me. They pulled over and called the police. The waited with me; telling me it was going to be okay, but it wasn't. I got pregnant. At the time, it felt like my world was ending. My parents wouldn't listen to anything I had to say after that. They told me the decision was mine, but they thought I'd just turned into a total slut. Honestly, I thought about it for awhile, but I couldn't do it to myself."

He squeezed her hand. "Who was it?"

"Tomoe's brother- Enishi." His eyes narrowed and his hand tightened slightly, but he didn't say anything and she continued."After Tsubame was born, my focus was on her. I loved her more than anything. Eventually, a guy that I was going to graduate with approached me and we started dating after a few months of getting to know each other. He made me happy, and he loved Tsubame. We were together, in every way possible, but after graduation we just couldn't find the time and finally we broke up." She looked into Kenshin's eyes. "There wasn't any hard feelings, it just didn't work out."

"So after that you ended up on the street..."

"Yeah. I was on and off the streets for about three years. Now I'm here."

He cupped her face in a comforting manner. "I'm glad you are."

She smiled and gave a short laugh, resting her hand over his. "Me too."

The rest of the day went by and they sat there, enjoying each other's company. They talked about little things that weren't important as well as things that were potentially important. The afternoon was about them as friends, not about them as employer and employee and they both enjoyed it.

"So why did you and Tomoe get a divorce?" She asked.

He froze. "Don't get the wrong idea about when I tell you this." He said and she nodded. "She cheated on me." Kaoru's eyebrows rose. "We were having problems anyway, and the guy she was with... he was there for her through everything. They grew up together. You remember how I told you she was getting married?"

"Yeah."

"The guy she cheated on me with is the guy she's getting married to. They're really in love with each other. Even I can see it." He laughed to himself. "Enishi always hated me, so I guess it's for the best that we got divorced. Akira is like a brother to Enishi, even with their age differences."

"Did it bother you that Enishi didn't approve of you?" Kaoru asked.

He gave a humorless laugh. "I don't give a shit what Enishi thinks, I never have."

"I used to care about everything he thought." She commented just above a whisper.

He looked at her. "I'm sorry."

She gave him a look. "Why is everyone always apologizing to me?"

"What?" He gave her a confused look.

"I swear I haven't gotten through one conversation since I've been here without someone apologizing to me for something they said."

"I'm-" He paused. "Okay, point taken. I'll work on that."

"Thank you." She smiled.

"So what do you feel for Enishi now?"

"Honestly, I try not to think about him. I haven't seen him since that night and he has no idea that he has a daughter. I wish he would disappear." She finished.

"You might not believe me, but I understand completely."

* * *

**Ah, my sweet scene. Oh it gets better, believe me. What did you like? What did you not like? :D**

**Review please. Yeah, I think I'm switching my rating to M. **

**-K**


	6. Guests

**It's CHAPTER 5! This is beyond exciting. I'm telling you, we're almost halfway done. If that makes sense. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, which is still incredibly unfortunate.**

* * *

Months passed and Kaoru was fitting in perfectly with Kenshin and Yahiko. It had been difficult to begin with. Sometimes she'd get up too early, sometimes too late, sometimes he'd complain and she wouldn't know what to do about it. Kenshin never yelled at her though, or told her how incompetent she was. He would just explain something to her in the simplest fashion that he could. He took really good care of her, more than she could have ever asked for. He paid her, just as he promised, but he doted on her. After a few weeks of taking Yahiko to and from school on foot, he bought her a car. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was definitely too much. She had tried to decline it, but he wouldn't let her. Whatever Kenshin did for her, he always had a reason to give her as to why he did it, so she couldn't complain. Tomoe and Akira came over a few times, and always offered to bring Enishi, so maybe Kenshin and him could reconcile, but Kenshin forbid it, never revealing her secret.

Her daughter and Misao visited frequently as well, sometimes at the same time as Tomoe. The woman was absolutely enchanted with the little girl; her niece. The thought always made Kaoru cringe. One night Kenshin and Kaoru were in the kitchen, getting ready to clean up dinner when Kaoru leaned in to whisper to him. "I feel bad for Yahiko."

He'd stopped what he was doing. "Why?"

"Do you see the way he looks at Tsubame? He's got a little crush on her." She smiled warmly.

"Then why do you feel bad for him?"

"They're cousins, biologically." She pointed out to him. Did he really forget their connection, or had he not thought of it before?

He stiffened and then relaxed as he felt someone approach them from behind. "We'll talk about it later." As they turned, they saw Misao. "What is it?" He asked.

"You have a few guests at your door. I didn't know we were having a party." She gave an annoyed look.

Kaoru looked at Kenshin. "You don't think..."

"Oh I think." Drying off his hands, he took his hair down as they walked out of the kitchen, and sure enough, there stood his friends Aoshi and Megumi and Kaoru's cousin and his girlfriend. Apparently Megumi and Sano seeing each other surprised them both.

"So, did I miss some memo that everyone was supposed to be at my house today?" Kenshin glanced around.

"Now all we need is for Yukishiro to show up and we've got the whole gang here." Sano grumbled, casting a glare at Megumi.

Megumi and Sano had grown up together, and had eventually dated. Sano wasn't growing up quick enough for her and they fought like cats and dogs, so they eventually broke up. It was rough and bitter, and they were both still sore over it.

"Like hell." Kenshin growled, taking an unconsciously step in front of Kaoru, which luckily almost everyone missed. "Sorry Tomoe, but if your brother showed up, I'd butcher him on my lawn."

Everyone's eyes widened, even Kaoru's. Tomoe let out a nervous laugh. "It's a good thing he doesn't know where you live then."

Kenshin looked at his newly arrived guests. "Why are you all here?"

"Misao invited me." Megumi said. "I need to check on Tsubame. She's been feeling under the weather recently, so I'm here to make sure she's still doing okay." Kaoru and Megumi never got along, but Megumi smiled at her. "She looks a lot like you Kaoru, you should be proud."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, before smiling. "Yeah, I am."

"I just wanted to come see what you were doing, and I dragged Sayo along." Sano smiled innocently.

"You've already missed dinner." Kaoru smirked.

"Damn." He sighed. "That's okay, I'd be surprised if you guys hadn't eaten yet since it's already this late."

Kenshin was silent as he looked at Aoshi.

"It's private." Aoshi answered.

"Work?" Misao asked and he nodded.

Misao and Aoshi had been dating since Misao was in high school. At first, they'd all thought it was an unrequited love, but after confronting him, he, in his own little way, told her that he felt the same. Emotionally, they'd been inseparable ever since.

Kenshin looked at Aoshi. "It's the weekend. You know I don't do work on the weekend."

"You really think I'd be bothering you if it weren't important?"

Kenshin looked at Kaoru. "Can you manage everything by yourself for a few minutes?"

She smiled. "Your kitchen will be in one piece when you get done." Even though they'd finished eating, the pans were still hot, and he was constantly nervous she'd do something. He gave her a soft smile before leaving the room with Aoshi.

Kaoru went back to the kitchen and lightly touched the pan, seeing if it was cool enough to touch. Unfortunately, it wasn't so she busied herself with other dishes for a few minutes. When she looked up in the window above the stove, she saw a face she never thought she'd see again.

She moved to quickly; the pot fell, splattering the leftover food in all directions. She screamed from the shock of the face in the window and from the still hot food landing on her clothes. She stumbled back away from the scene and into someone's arms. She screamed again and turned around, only to see Kenshin.

"What is it?" His voice sounded out of breath. Had he run down to her?

"Th-the-there's someone outside." She pointed to the window. "I saw them."

Kenshin turned his head and Sano and Aoshi were already headed out the door. Kenshin lowered his lips to her ear, his arms still around her, holding her up. "Was it Enishi?"

She shook her head as her daughter approached her. Pull gently out of Kenshin's hold, she picked her daughter up. Turning, she completely faced Kenshin and answered him. "No, but I've seen him before." She looked into his eyes as if looking into the abyss of violet would give her the answer. She gave a frustrated sigh. "I can't remember."

"It's okay." He said soothingly as the men came back in.

"There's no one out there... not anymore." Aoshi said.

"Anymore?" Tomoe asked, stepping towards them.

"There's faint foot prints. She's not lying; there was someone out there."

"Did you doubt there was?" Misao asked.

"No." Aoshi confirmed, not saying any more than that.

"You're sure you don't remember where you've seen him?" Sano asked her.

Kaoru shook her head. "I wish I did, but no, I can't place him."

Sayo stepped up and touched his arm. "Sano, Shogo wants me home." Her voice was breathy.

Megumi stepped towards her and grabbed her arm, noticing she was swaying. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Fine." Sayo smiled. "Just a little tired."

Sano came forward and gently pulled his girlfriend out of Megumi's grasp.

Her eyes shown hurt before she quickly masked it. She dug in her purse and pulled out a pen and a tiny scrap of paper; writing on it she handed it to Sayo. "If you start feeling weak, call this number." She turned towards Kenshin and Kaoru. "Tsubame is fine, and I've got to get going, I have something to do."

Sayo stopped her before she left the room. "What number is this?"

Megumi didn't look at either of them as she answered. "My personal emergency line." She walked out, leaving them all in silence.

When they heard the front door close, Sano was the first to speak. "What the hell was that?"

Kenshin sighed. "Don't ask, just be thankful. Megumi's one of the best doctors around and she doesn't give out that number on a whim." He looked at Sayo. "You made quite an impression."

"How?"

He shrugged. "With Megumi, you never know."

She looked at the number again and put it in her purse before looking back at her boyfriend. "I really need to get going." She said and he nodded.

Sano gave his cousins a hug as the couple said their goodbyes.

Aoshi was next, taking a look at his watch he announced that he needed to be up for work the next day.

"What about what you two needed to discuss?" Kaoru asked.

"It can wait." He answered.

Kenshin gave him a look. "You sure?"

Aoshi only nodded. "I'm going to make another round to see if I see anyone, then I'll leave." He leaned down and kissed Misao before saying goodbye to the others and telling Kenshin that he'd see him at work.

Kaoru looked at the clock on the wall, it really was late and Tsubame was starting to nod off. "Misao, I think she's ready to go to bed." Kaoru smiled.

"You sure you're ready to let her go?" Misao asked.

"I'm never sure, but she needs her sleep." She kissed her daughter's cheek. Tsubame tightened her arms around her mother's neck, causing a chuckle from the group. "I love you." She whispered before she handed her daughter off to Misao.

"I love you mommy." Tsubame mumbled.

Misao waved at them. "Bye." She whispered before taking her leave.

Tomoe sighed as she leaned against Akira. "I guess we should take the hint and go too." She smiled.

"No rush." Kenshin commented, smiling.

"Oh don't give me that. You have to get up in what?" She glanced at the clock. "Seven hours?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, something like that."

Tomoe smiled at him before turning to Yahiko. "Come give me a hug, sweetie. Akira and I are leaving." Yahiko silently went to his mother and hugged her and then Akira. The couple then took their leave with one last goodbye.

Kenshin sighed looked at Yahiko. "Are you ready to go to bed?" He asked, only earning a nod. He turned to Kaoru to see that she was cleaning up the dishes again. "What are you doing?"

She turned her head to look at him. "I'm finishing up. You can't just let this sit here."

"I don't think one night is really going to make a difference. Let it sit in water and clean it tomorrow after you take Yahiko to school." He tried to reason.

"It shouldn't-"

"Kaoru." He said sternly and then froze- they both did. He rarely said her name, but when he did, he'd always call her 'Miss'. This was the first time he'd actually said just her name. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Miss Kaoru, it's not going to make a difference. Go to bed."

"But-" He cut her off again.

"Go." She stiffened. She didn't like to be bossed around, but that's what he was, her boss. He could tell her to do anything he wanted and if she wanted to keep this job, she'd have to do it. Sighing, she stepped away from the sink.

"Okay." She walked over to Yahiko. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." He yawned. Taking her hand, he walked up the stairs and into his room, Kenshin following closely behind them.

"Do you need help?" She asked.

"I've got it." Kenshin said. "Go to bed."

"I'm going, I'm going." She yawned as well. "Good night Yahiko." She smiled.

"Night." He turned his back to her and started to undress.

She looked at Kenshin then, only to see that he was staring at her, silently commanding her to go. "I'm going." She assured him. "Good night."

"Good night." He replied and turned to help his son.

She walked out of the room and in to hers. After getting ready for bed, she lay there, not able to fall asleep. She couldn't get the face of the person in the window out of her mind. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, her eyes slid closed and she had a night of dreamless sleep.

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**Well, what did you all think of wonderful chapter 5? I thought it was kind of rushed, but I said at the beginning this is sort of fast paced. As far as the scene actually went, what did we all think?**

**Concerns? Comments?**

**-K**


	7. Sickness

_**So I'm officially out of school, for good... well, at least for the summer. I have passed all of my classes. As a treat, I'm giving you guys a really long chapter (well, long for me). Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to finish this story before I lose internet. I'm working on it, believe me.**_

_**Jolie Luv: Haha, thank you for all of your reviews. I can't give anything away. You're just going to have to continue reading. :)**_

_**For everyone else who has reviewed so far, thank you so much!**_

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When she woke up in the morning, Kenshin was just about to walk out the door. As she scrambled down the stairs in her pajamas, she nearly ran into him. "Sorry." She breathed. "I woke up late." She wanted to kick herself. She looked down at herself. She didn't have anything under her pajamas which had sakura blossoms scattered on it. She wanted to wrap her hands around her chest, blocking the view.

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Yahiko seems to have caught something, so he isn't going to school today." He gave her a stern look. "Take care of him."

"Don't worry, I will." He gave a nod and left, leaving her alone with a sick child. She walked around downstairs aimlessly, wondering what to do. This was usually the time where she helped Yahiko get ready for school, but since he wasn't going she was at a loss. Suddenly remembering the dishes from the night before, she tied her raven hair into a tight ponytail and walked into the kitchen and then froze. There wasn't any dirty dishes. "That guy..." She sighed to herself.

She walked over to the cabinets and opened them, viewing the shining dishes inside. She made an unladylike noise in the back of her throat. She stood there, not sure of what to do. Unable to do anything else, she went back to her room and grabbed one of the books she had recently bought off her shelf.

Hours passed and she had finally finished the book. Putting it down, she looked at the clock. "Lunch time." She said to herself, sliding out of bed. Before she made her way to Yahiko's room, she slid a sweater over her head. Walking to his door, she found that he was up as well, silently looking at a comic book. "Hey." She said, standing at his door.

His head shot up, surprised. "Hi." He attempted to say, but it came out in a whisper.

"Can I come in?" She asked and he nodded. "How are you feeling?" He shrugged and she sat down on the corner of his bed. "Not good, huh?" He only slid under his blankets; laying back down. She sighed. _'Poor guy.' _She thought to herself. "Are you hungry?"

"No." He whispered.

"You need to eat something." Kaoru turned to see Kenshin in the bedroom doorway, his suit lightly wrinkled and his flaming red hair fell around his shoulders, like he'd just taken it out.. He gave her a cold look. "Were you planning on cooking something?"

"You know how I feel about cooking." She said, giving him a strange look, her mind weary.

"Then how exactly were you planning on taking care of him?"

That's when she noticed his eyes. _Amber. _She should have been scared, but she wasn't. Her temper flaring, she stood up, and defiantly put her hands on her hips. "By keeping your house standing and your son alive, Mr. Himura. What do you suggest I do?" She would probably regret how she was responding, but she didn't take well to being talked to like an invalid. _  
_

He glared at her, cold malice in his eyes. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought his breathing was heavy, like he was having a hard time controlling himself. "Get out." He growled.

Kaoru turned to notice Yahiko's eyes widen; not with worry or nerves, but from shock. She gave a sad smile before she ran her hand through his brown hair. Leaning forward she pressed her forehead to his hot one. "Feel better." She kissed his head and got up, walking quickly around Kenshin. She looked back, and he was still there, glaring at her like she was the world's enemy. She turned to run down the stairs and she was out the door.

Running down the street passing drivers, she had no destination in mind. She ran endlessly until she made it to a park. She looked around, noticing that it was abandoned. She should have seen this park before, but she had never been there before. The wind blew, making the swing set creak eerily in the silence. She walked over to the bench and sat down, drawing her knees up to her chest. It wasn't until she saw her tears on her knees that she realized she was crying. Angrily wiping her tears away, Kaoru wanted to scream. She wanted to scream at the world for her life, for her parents because of how the treated her, at Enishi for ruining her life and her trust of people, at Kenshin, who had been teaching her how to trust again and then just yanking it away in the blink of an eye. Most of all, she wanted to scream at herself, because she couldn't do anything to stop what was happening. There were always two paths, but she ended up always taking the wrong one. She looked up, into the line of trees and saw the face from the night before; no, not the face... the eyes. They were like death. Her breath caught in her throat.

Slowly getting up, she made her way to the trees, taking slow but steady steps. It was like the closer she came, the farther the person, the man, got. She wanted to run to him, see who he was. Why was he so familiar to her? One minute she was walking and then the next, she stumbled. Looking down, she noticed the branches on the group, blocking her path. When she looked back up, he was gone. She took one more step forward, and then felt a hand on her shoulder.

Whirling around, she saw Kenshin. His eyes were back to violet, and his hair and suit were fixed as though he hadn't even been the same person earlier. "What are you doing out here?" He asked her, looking her up and down.

She couldn't help but notice his voice was calmer then before as well. "You told me to leave, I did." She said, taking a step away from him.

"I said get out of the room, not leave the house." He replied.

"What's with you? First you act like you're pissed off at me, then you act like you hate me and now you act like you care what I'm doing." The wind suddenly began to blow, making her shiver.

He took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, but luckily she didn't argue or try to give it back. "I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier. It's been a very hectic day and I'm just trying to get through it."She didn't say anything, just continued to look at him and he sighed. "You didn't really answer my question."

She wanted to tell him that she didn't answer to him, but she sort of did... besides, he had apologized. She looked around. "Have you ever been here before?"

He shook his head. "No." Looking around, he continued. "A little girl died here a few years ago, so no one really comes here."

"Just because someone died?" She asked, looking startled.

"Well, she was murdered actually. She was taken to the woods over there and... well, she was found there by a group of children." He looked at her. "That's what I was told anyway. No one wants there children to potentially in that situation, so no one comes here anymore."

She looked back at the trees. "I saw someone." She said without thinking.

"What do you mean?"

"The person in the window... he was in there." She pointed between the trees.

"Is that why you were walking over there?" He asked, a startled look on his face. She only nodded. "I'm tempted to call you an idiot, but I understand why you did what you did." As the wind blew, she pulled his jacket around her tighter. She gave a small chuckle and without thinking he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Come on, let's go home."

She looked down, hiding her burning face from him. "Yeah." As they walked to the house, something dawned on her. "Whose watching Yahiko?"

He held up his cell phone. "If he needs anything, I told him to call me. I honestly didn't think I'd be gone that long, but I didn't think you'd have gone that far."

"I'm sorry." She said, feeling like a child. How much she had overreacted.

He opened the door as they made it to the house. "I'm the one who needed to apologize."

"And you did."

He smiled. "I did, yes." As he shut the front door, his phone rang. Looking at it, he smiled. "Yahiko." He answered the phone. "We're downstairs. I'll be right up." He looked at Kaoru. "He was worried about you. Come on."

She smiled as they walked up the stairs. Handing him back his jacket, she walked into Yahiko's room first. He was still under his blankets but his face was sweating.

"It's hot." He silently whispered.

Kaoru walked to his bed and sat down, pulling the blankets to his chin. "You need to sweat it out. You'll feel better sooner." She looked at Kenshin, who once again stood by the door. "Did he eat?"

"I only wanted crackers." He Yahiko answered. "I'm not hungry."

She nodded. "Okay, but you need to try to eat something tonight. Deal?" He nodded. "Good, try to sleep." Yahiko didn't reply, he just shut his eyes and rolled over.

Getting up, she made her way back over to Kenshin. Looking into his eyes, she found an emotion there that she couldn't identify. Taking his hand into hers, she gently pulled him out of his son's room. Walking down the stairs, they made their way into the living room and they sat down on the couch. "So you never told me about Yahiko." She started bluntly.

He looked at her, his eyes squinting in confusion."What?"

"When I talked about Yahiko and Tsubame... you said you'd explain later."

He looked away from her. "Oh." Settling back into the couch, he crossed his arms, his white button downed shirt tightening over his muscles. "When Tomoe and I got married she didn't want kids. To be more specific, she didn't want to give birth to any. We were young and she wanted to wait on that, but another side of her really wanted them. She wasn't superficial about how a baby would change her body but she didn't want all of the medical complications that _could _have happened. Anyway, I wasn't sure if I wanted children at the time, but I loved her and I wanted her to be happy so we talked about adopting. At first, it was a turnoff to me because who would want a baby that wasn't theirs, but like I said, I wanted her to be happy. After the whole process that we had to go through, we finally adopted Yahiko. He might not biologically be my son, but legally, and in every other way that really matters, he is."

"You love your son." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Yes."

"Would you ever want more children?" She asked, curious.

Kenshin leaned forward and rested his elbows on his legs, his chin on his folded hands. "As a single parent, no. Financially, I could, but I want to be in a relationship that I know will last before I think about having any other children. Though, I doubt I'd want to adopt again." He looked at her. "Yahiko was more than worth it, but if I ever have any more children I'd want them to be biological. There's no real reason for it. It's just something I want."

"That's understandable." She reasoned.

"What about you? Would you want any other children?"

She leaned against the arm of the couch, looking at him. "Once I get my life completely turned around, yeah. I think I would. I love children so when things get better for me, I'd think about it more seriously."

"Would you be a single parent?" He asked, and then sucked in a quick breath. "I apologize. That was a very invasive and very insensitive question."

"No, it's okay." She smiled. "I don't know. It's not something I strive for, but I'm already and single parent so it's not a big change for me."

Without thinking he told her that she deserved to be happy. She could only smile.

There was an awkward silence before she asked, "does he know?"

"That he's adopted?" She nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if he knows what that actually means, but he says he does, so we'll see when he gets older."

Kaoru let out a small giggle.

"What?"

"You said it yourself. You're his father in every way that really counts. I think he realizes that too."

Kenshin leaned back again, resting his head on the back of the couch as he looked at the ceiling. "Maybe you're right."

"I think he understands more than you think he does."

He sighed as he looked at her through the corner of his eye. "Yeah..."

They sat there, not saying anything to each other. Kaoru played with the ends of her hair that fell over her shoulder and Kenshin sat there with his eyes shut.

"Are you nervous?" He finally asked.

Her hands fell to her lap before she looked at his face. His eyes were still closed. "No, why?"

"You've been playing with your hair for the past twenty minutes."

She opened her mouth to reply but his phone rang. He gave a low growl at the back of his throat before taking his phone out of his pocket. Without opening his eyes he put the phone up to his ear.

"Himura." He said. Kaoru just smiled. He didn't usually look to see who was calling, apparently.

"I know, I had a problem at home. Sorry, I meant to call in." Another pause. "Yeah, sorry, my son is sick and Miss Kaoru isn't really meant for the kitchen."

The person in the phone must have said something shocking because his eyes flew open. "I don't really know." He almost whispered. "Yeah, I'll talk to you later. Mhm, bye." He hung up the phone and looked at Kaoru. He opened his mouth but then looked at the top of the stairs. "Hey, what are you doing up?"

Kaoru turned and looked to see Yahiko.

"I'm hungry." He said, slowly walking down the stairs. He came to sit down between Kaoru and Kenshin.

"You're still burning up." Kaoru commented, placing her hand on his forehead.

He glared at her. "I'm hungry."

Kenshin stood up. "Stay here with Kaoru and I'll go make you some soup."

He leaned against Kaoru before mumbling. "Thanks dad."

The two smiled at each other before Kenshin walked away. Kaoru wrapped her arms around the young boy and pulled him against her. She figured that if she used her body heat to keep him warm, he'd sweat off the rest of her fever. She hoped it worked.

The next morning, she had to force herself to roll out of bed. Standing up, she felt lightheaded. There was a slight knock at her door. "Come in." She tried to say, but it came out in a whisper. She took a step before she began to sway. She tried to catch herself, but unable to, she fell to the ground with a thud. Before she could look up, the door swung open, revealing Kenshin.

He was at her side in a minute. "What happened?"

She opened her mouth, but didn't hear her voice. She tried again, but still nothing. She didn't know how to reply and soon tears were starting to form in her eyes.

He picked her up and placed her back on the bed before putting his hand to her forehead. "It's okay. I understand. Let me call work to tell them I won't be coming in today and we'll find some medicine for you."

She shook her head. _You need to go. _She mouthed.

He shook his head. "No, I don't. Yahiko is still sick and now you are too."

"Just go." She squeaked out. He opened his mouth and she held up her finger. Rummaging through her drawer, she found a pen and a notebook. Flipping to a blank page, she began to write.

_**Just bring Yahiko in here. We'll sleep until you get** **home.**_

"I can't just leave you two here by yourself."

**_Call Sanosuke._**

He sucked in his breath. "I'd rather leave you two alone." She tried to laugh, but it came out as a rough cough.

**_Please, we'll be fine. I promise._ **

He sighed and walked out. No more than a minute later, he walked back with Yahiko in his arms. Scooting over, she allowed him to set his son down. "I'm going to leave the phone," he sat it down on her nightstand, "here. Call me if you need anything." She nodded. He began to close the door. "Bye." He said, but she was already pulling Yahiko to her, using their body heat to sweat out the fever.

True to her words, they slept the rest of the day. When Kenshin got home and made his way to Kaoru's room, she had just woke up and was trying to situate Yahiko on her bed. When she saw him all she did was smile.

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**_This is my longest chapter yet. I had a lot I wanted to do and say here so this will probably be the ONLY long (3000+ word) chapter, but no promises._**

**_Reviews are always welcome of course. :)_**

**_-K_**


	8. Confrontation

_**You don't even know how happy I am about this chapter. I really hope it's to all of your liking. Just go with the flow here. I'm really trying to make a point with all of these characters and their background stories. Trying... might not succeed, but I swear I'm really trying. Anyway, here's the next story of "What I Find in You". Again, I don't own RK. Boo. :(**_

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Things went back to normal as soon as Yahiko and Kaoru got sick, which did take awhile. After nearly losing his mind at work, Kenshin called in the rest of the week, sick. He couldn't leave them at home, no matter how much Kaoru had told him to go.

At first, he had thought she really didn't want him around and that she was resentful that he did everything, but he quickly found out that she was just embarrassed that he had to do it all for her. He had to cook, clean, watch over them and for the first few days, he even had to help her make her way to the bathroom. "I'm going to die from embarrassment", she had said the first day she got her voice back.

He had laughed, obviously. "No you won't." He had replied.

Her arm was around his neck as his arm was around her waist. "I'm a full grown woman who has to have help going to the bathroom." She huffed, her cheeks red.

"You can either have help making your way to the bathroom or you can have help cleaning up the mess when you couldn't make it that far." He shrugged. She hadn't replied to that, she couldn't. So she kept her mouth shut.

But now he was back at the office, leaving Kaoru and Yahiko to their daily routine.

Kaoru sighed as she sat outside Yahiko's school, waiting for him to get out of class. She tapped her foot impatiently. He was already ten minutes late. "Come on Yahiko." She sighed, frustrated. It was hot and she wasn't getting any cooler out in the hot sun. The crowd near the school had become nonexistent in the last few minutes and just as she was going to much into the school and find him, he ran out.

He stopped at her side. "Sorry I'm late, my teacher wanted to talk to me." Without thinking he lifted his hand and latched it on to hers and they began to walk home, hand in hand.

"What did your teacher want?" She asked, a smile blossoming on her face.

"Nothing really, just wanted me to tell dad to call her." Her made a face of disgust. "She likes him. She always talks about him with the other girl teachers when they think no one can hear them."

She slowly tugged him to a stop. "If it's bothering you, you need to tell your dad."

"He shouldn't have to deal with it." For being nearly ten years old, he was very mature in his thoughts and decisions, most of the time.

"Sweetie, your dad just wants what's best for you. If you're bothered by it, tell him." He didn't say anything, just kept walking, but his grip tightened on her hand. They didn't say anything else as they walked home together. Instinctively, she looked at the wooded area as they passed the park and she froze. The man that had been practically stalking her was there and he was headed right towards them.

She quickly fished the house key out of her pocket and turned to Yahiko. "Sweetheart, I need you to run home, go in and call whoever you can."

His eyes wide, he looked at her. "What do I say?"

"Anything. Go." She gently shoved him and turned around to see the man practically in her face. She wouldn't be intimidated... not that he could see anyway. "You've been following me for months, what the hell do you want?" She growled.

His words were sinister, and they made her freeze. "To make you suffer."

A chill went down her spine. "Why?" She breathed out.

"Why not?" His cold eyes glanced over her body.

She wanted to take a step back, hell she wanted to run, anything to get far away from this man, but she couldn't make herself move. "How do you know me?"

"You dated my son." He growled. "And because of you, he's dead."

She saw him slowly move as he began to take a knife out of his jacket. '_Oh God..._' She thought. "Whose your son?" She really needed to buy time, or this creep was going to use that thing on her.

"Seta Soujiro." He growled, sliding the blade up her stiff arm, not piercing the skin but putting pressure on the blade.

Her breathe caught in her throat. "What?" She practically let out a sob. "What-" She was cut off a tires squealed around the corner. "Kenshin!" She wanted to cry out, but it wasn't him. As a tall man stepped out of the car, she didn't know how to react. _"Who the hell is this?" _

"Miss Kaoru Kamiya I assume?" He asked as she stepped towards them. She nodded.

"Hiko Seijuro." He said as he made his way to her side, extending his hand. She nervously took it, not sure if she should or not. When her hand was in his, he made contact with the man with the knife. "Shishio Makoto." He sneered.

"Seijuro, what are you doing here?" The venom in his voice was suffocating.

He pulled Kaoru away from Shishio and took a protective step in front of her, blocking them from each other.

Him pulling her away from the man made the blade cut into her arm. Slowly, blood began to slide down her bent arm to her elbow. She covered it quickly and looked at the two men.

"My nephew called and said he needed me to come get someone." His voice was so calm; she didn't know how he did it. Not waiting for a reply, he turned, grabbed Kaoru's uninjured arm and began to take her to his car, but she stopped him.

"Wait." Gently prying her arm out of his hold, she looked over to Shishio. "What happened to Soujiro?"

He looked at the man behind her and then back at her. "If you want to know, you need to come with me."

_Trap. _Her mind screamed.

"No." She heard Hiko say from behind her.

She whipped around seeing him stand by the driver's door of the car. "Don't make decisions for me." She growled before turning back to the man who had pressed a knife against her skin and she quickly covered her unnoticed injury. "Sorry, but I don't trust you. If you want to talk to me, it's going to be in public where I know nothing will happen to me." He took a step back, intending to leave the scene. As he turned his back, she yelled out. "I do care what happened to him. At the time, he was the best thing that ever happened to me!"

He froze. "And now?" His voice was rough.

"I've moved on..." Her voice trailed off. He whipped around and made the move to come after her, blood in his eyes. She stumbled back, trying to get out of his reach. He froze when a tiny click sound rang out through the air. Kaoru looked back to see Hiko point a gun at the man's head.

"A gun?" Shishio let out a hysterical laugh. "That seems beneath you."

"It'll do in a small scuffle such as this." He sounded bored. He left the other side of car and made his way towards Kaoru. "It would be best if we left now."

Kaoru looked between the two men before letting out an exhausted sigh. "Yeah... if you need to contact me... well, you know where to find me, I guess."

"Though I suggest that you don't come near them again." Hiko warned. He didn't wait for Shishio to reply, he gestured for Kaoru to get in the car and when she did, he went to his side and slid into the passenger seat.

She stayed quiet until he drove away from the scene. "Who are you?"

"Hiko Seijuro." He stated, not taking his eyes off the road.

"You know that's not what I'm asking." She gave him an pissed expression.

"I'm Kenshin's uncle." He gave a small, almost uncomfortable smile. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and noticed her shocked expression. "Not biologically, of course."

She slide down into her seat. "Of course..." She murmured. As he drove, the passed the house and she made a noise of alarm.

"Don't worry, I had someone come and take Yahiko for the afternoon. I called my stupid nephew and he told me bring you to his work." He scoffed. "Can you believe that? He told me to, like I'm here at his beck and call." It's like he couldn't even fathom it.

"Whose taking care of Yahiko?" She asked, completely ignoring his arrogance of the situation.

"Does it matter?" He asked.

She scowled. "Of course it matters!"

"Settle down." He sighed. "A man named Sanosuke Sagara and his girlfriend are taking care of him."

She could have sworn he whispered something about _'that man is an idiot'_ under his breath but she didn't comment on it.

As they pulled into the parking space at an enormous building, her mouth fell open.

Hiko made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat at her reaction. "Please tell me you knew he worked here."

She shook her head. "We don't discuss his work. When he's home, he focuses on home unless it's something he can't avoid." She paused and looked at him. "Even then, he's into his work and Yahiko and I are doing something else."

He ran his hand through his long black hair. "You're quite an interesting young woman, Miss Kamiya."

"Thank you...?" She was unsure how to take that.

He laughed. "It wasn't an insult, believe me." Putting his hand on her upper back, he escorted her to the entrance of the building. Stepping into the elevator once inside, Kaoru looked around in wonder.

"This place is amazing." She whispered.

"Thank you." He replied automatically.

"You own this, don't you?"

"Was it obvious?"

Kaoru sighed. "It should have been..." He chuckled. She opened her mouth to say something else, but the bell chimed, signalling that the doors were about to open.

Once they did, he held his hand to her, "ladies first."

"Thank you." She smiled before exiting the box with him following closely.

He led her to a door on the far side of the office. As he was about to open them a woman stopped him. "Sir, Mr. Himura and Mr. Shinamori are in a meeting! You can't go in there!"

"Are you going to stop me?" Hiko gave her a mocking smile.

"If I need to I'll call security." She gave him a glare.

"Do you know how I am little girl?" He sounded pissed.

"The man who interrupted an important meeting." Kenshin's voice sounded through the newly opened doors.

Kaoru already knew he was in a horrible mood. His eyes were amber.

"Ah, _Battousai_, it's rare that you join us." His uncle replied.

The venom in his reply was deadly. "Don't call me that. Ever."

"You need to calm down." He replied lightly, as if blowing Kenshin's own reply off.

He took an angry step towards him, but Kaoru, without thinking, stepped in his path. "Kenshin." She only said his name.

He placed his cold eyes on her and they widened his sudden recognition, like she was the last person he was expecting, but he still remained cold; distant. "What?" He practically growled.

"Please, calm down." She wanted to reach out and touch him. His face, his arm, anything... as long as she had a physical connection with him. She froze at her thought. _'What. The. Hell... Where the heck did that thought come from?'_ Still, she wanted to touch him.

To him, her words were not welcomed. Dismissing her, he looked at his uncle. "Take her home."

"You wanted to know that she was alright, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry to inform you, but this isn't a babysitting center. I can't deal with this right now." He turned to Kaoru. "Go home."

"Unfortunately for you, my stupid nephew, I can't take her home right now. In case you forgot, I have things to do this afternoon. It looks like you're going to have to pay babysitter." He nudged her towards Kenshin.

She looked awkwardly between the two men, before the woman who had interrupted them earlier stepped forward.

"Would you like to do anything, Mr. Himura?"

"Stay out of it or you'll be fired." Hiko pinned her with a glare.

Kenshin opened his mouth to reply, but Kaoru gave an irritated sigh.

"God, would you two knock it off?" She was so pissed off, at the both of them and she was going to let them have it. "You," she looked at Hiko, "you could have just taken me home. If he really wanted to know how I was, I could have called without you dragging me all the way down here." His eyes widened in surprise. She didn't doubt that she was one of the few people who ever talked to him like that.

Turning to look at Kenshin, she told him how she felt about his attitude right then and there. "You need to calm the hell down." She wanted to mentally kick herself. She just _cussed_ at her boss. Something was definitely wrong with her, but she started this, she couldn't back down now. "You're having a bad day; everyone does, but that doesn't mean you have to be a total ass about it." _'I'm going to go drown myself after this.'_ She internally cried to herself.

Without thinking, she lifted her bloody hand in his face. "I'm going to go home now, and when you get off, whatever stick is up your butt needs to be out, got it?" She looked his his stunned face and as she turned, she noticed Hiko and Kenshin's secretary's face was a mask of fascination and horror. Kaoru began walking to the elevator door but she stopped when she felt Kenshin's hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him. "What is it?" His eyes were still amber. She wanted to sigh; he was probably going to yell at her.

"What happened to your arm?" He asked quietly.

She looked down and saw that some of the blood had dried up. "Oh, nothing." She shrugged her shoulders before she tried to step out of his reach.

"Stop." His grip tightened. "What happened?"

"Kenshin, it's nothing. I was just being careless."

"With the knife that Shishio Makoto held against her." Hiko commented absentmindedly.

Kenshin's eyes narrowed. "Where is he?" His breathing was ragged, like he was going to lose it at any moment.

"I don't know." Kaoru looked down at their feet. "I wish I did..."

She heard Kenshin breathe in to say something else, but Aoshi broke the silence. "Himura, we're about to close the deal."

She looked up to see him face Aoshi and nod before looking back at her. "Go home and take care of that." He tilted his head towards her cut. "I'll be home as soon as this is over."

She didn't reply for a minute but then she finally nodded. He gave a confirmation nod and began to walk to where Aoshi was waiting.

Kaoru didn't know what possessed her to what she did next. She pretty much told him off ten minutes earlier, so she was most likely going to get fired and that broke all of her willpower to hold back. "Kenshin." She called out, getting his attention.

He stopped and looked back at her.

She walked to him and pushed up on her tiptoes. Her lips connected with his. She did it; she kissed him. Backing off quickly, she apologized. "I'm sorry for being such a burden lately." He didn't say anything, he didn't even move as she stepped back and quickly made her way to the elevator. She couldn't even look back as she stepped in; her face was a flaming tomato.

As the door closed, she swore she heard laughing. She couldn't do anything except lean her head against the cool metal wall.

When she reached the parking garage, she practically ran into the man who had harmed her earlier.

"Mr. Makoto-"

"You said if I wanted to talk, I'd know where to find you and I did." He curled his hand into a fist and slammed it against her face.

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**_What did you think, my lovelies? It honestly took me about 45 minutes to write all of this, which I'm very proud of. :)_**

**_Questions (which I won't come right out and answer), comments, concerns? :D_**

**_-K_**


	9. Pasts

_**Oh. My. Gosh! :D I'm so excited about this chapter. This is the climax tied in with the beginning of the resolution. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. While I wrote it, I cried. So, I hope it has the same effect on all of you. **_

_**Oh, one more thing. I still don't own RK. Pfft.**_

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When Kaoru came awake, she was surrounded by a steel walls. _'What the hell? Where am I?' _Her mind screamed. "Hello?" She yelled out, panic consuming her. This place was unfamiliar to her.

"So you're finally awake?" A familiar female voice said through the door. When it slowly opened, Kaoru gasped.

"Yumi?" She'd met the woman before; she was Soujiro's mom. Trying to stand up, she was pulled back by chains. "Yumi, please, let me out."

"Kaoru, my dear, you know I can't." She walked to the side of the room, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What do you want from me?" She couldn't give up on tugging at the restraints.

"For you to listen to my husband's request." She said casually, like they were talking about the weather.

"Shishio... _Shishio Makoto_ is your husband." She tugged again, desperate to escape the awful place.

"Is that a problem?" His harsh voice filled the room.

Kaoru's head snapped towards the door. "What do you _want_? You've been following me around for weeks! Now... now you've kidnapped me. You're driving me crazy!" She screamed.

"Don't be so dramatic." Yumi sighed as she made her way to her husband, seductively wrapping her arms around him.

"I'll say this clearly." He started. "I want my granddaughter."

She stopped her tugging and looked at him, confused. "I'm sorry, what?" Had she heard that right?

"Soujiro's child. I want her." He stated again.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know he had a child." She said honestly.

"Don't play dumb, Kaoru. You were a bright girl when you two were together. I hope that hasn't vanished." Shishio's wife gave a subtle glare.

"I'm still just as smart, but I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. Last I checked, Soujiro didn't have a child." She sat down on her makeshift bed.

"So be it." Shishio gave a disgusted noise before wrapping his arm around his wife's waist, pulling her out of the room.

"Stop!" Kaoru yelled. "Let me go! I honestly don't know what you're talking about!" She began tugging on her restraints again. "Please!"

They didn't care- the slam of the metal door behind them confirmed that. Kaoru wasn't going to give up. She tugged and tugged and tugged against the chains until her wrists throbbed. Sighing, she sat down a curled her legs up towards her chest. "Kenshin..." She sighed. She wanted to cry out his name and believe that he'd find her... Tears slid down her face suddenly, realizing that no one would ever find her. She couldn't stop the tears as her past assaulted her. Image after image, she tried to think of something that could give them an answer and get her out of that hellhole, but nothing she saw could answer their questions. Soon, she passed out.

Kaoru's wake up call was less than enjoyable. Water hit her face like a brick of ice. Quickly pushing herself up, she opened her mouth to yell at them, but immediately remembered where they were. "Shishio..."

"Would you like to cooperate today?" He sneered at her.

"I'm not lying to you. I do _not_ know." She replied slowly. He only glared at her. "What happened to Soujiro?" She asked.

"You've moved on; why do you care?" He snapped.

Kaoru looked him in the eye. "Soujiro may be a part of my past, but he was still part of it. I really did love him. What happened?"

He looked at her suspiciously before walking over to the other side of the room and sitting down on the floor. "He was great boy, even when he was little. He'd do anything and everything he was told. He took punishment well and he didn't let his mother spoil him. He stood up for himself, but he knew how to back down when he needed to. All through his life, he knew what he wanted and he knew how to get it. He was brilliant during high school, everyone looked up to him and feared him... the way it should have been. Then he met you. He told us that you'd had a rough time recently but he didn't care about that. He cared about you. His mother thought it was sweet. It was too sappy for me. Teenage love is weak, and I ran from it. From them and you. I didn't need to meet you. If my wife gave you her approval, that was good enough for me."

She interrupted him. "Why do you say teenage love is weak?" She tilted her head. "Did you doubt your son's emotions?"

He didn't rise to the subtle bait she laid out for him. "What do you do when you meet someone as a teenager? You date, hold hands, kiss and touch, have sex. When things get hard or go in the direction that you don't want to go, you end it and move on. Do you know what I've done for my marriage, for my wife? I've killed for it. Mercilessly. Fearlessly. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat. You pathetic children have no idea what real love is. You think because you fuck like bunnies and have children with each other that you're madly in love. The bottom line though, is that none of you know what real love is."

She sighed. "You're right... That's what happened with us. But don't mistake my abandonment in our relationship as giving up. Soujiro was made for great things, but we were growing apart, and I didn't want to hold him back. I did love Soujiro, but I wasn't _in_ love with him anymore."

Shishio gave a disgusted sigh. "He graduated and went to college-top of his class at graduation. After you two broke up, he pushed himself beyond his limit to get to where he was and to forget about you. Unknown to us, he was dealing with hired assassins -we never found out why- and in a fit of rage, they beat him to an inch of his life."

Kaoru swore he was going to cry, but he held strong, not a tear in his eye.

"We got a call from the hospital and we rushed there. He made a confession to us, that he got a woman pregnant. We could barely make out the name, but then Yumi remembered you. I've been trying to find you for the last year and unbeknownst to me, you were right here under my nose, with Himura."

"What do you have against Kenshin?" She asked, curious at the fury in his voice as he said his name.

"You've seen Himura's anger." He pointed out and she nodded. "I fought him once and unfortunately lost. He nearly killed me, but with extensive treatment, I survived." He replied, vaguely.

It was all she needed to know. She had wondered if he had ever injured anyone before and now she had her answer. But she questioned his motive. Shishio wasn't exactly innocent. Had Kenshin turned on an unarmed man, a woman or a child before? Her head questioned it, but her heart told her know. He had lashed out at her with words before, but never with physical violence. She changed the subject back to Soujiro. "I promise you. Soujiro and I never had a child together. We were together, it's true, but that never happened."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you." He said while he got up and headed for the door.

"Shishio, please, I-" The door slammed, cutting off her words.

"Ugh!" She yelled into the silence room. She scrubbed her hands roughly over her face and thought back to the past again. "Please, anything." She begged her memory to show her something that she'd missed before. "Come on, come one..." She could feel something there.

_There._

"Please, anyone!" She cried out. She knew how it was that they'd mistaken her for... but nobody came. She waited, and waited, and waited but nothing happened. She slammed her hands down. "Fuck!" She screamed, her nerves and anger getting the best of her. She rarely cussed, but this seemed like a great occasion for it.

She stayed like that, wide awake, until someone came back in the morning, but no one came. She was alone again for the rest of the day.

She woke up herself the next day and was surprised to see Yumi and Shishio standing above her. She jolted up. "What?"

"We gave you a day and a half to think about your answer. Please, be honest with us." Yumi begged. "I want to see my grandchild."

Kaoru sighed. "You know I have a daughter, but I had her before Soujiro and I got together, don't you?" She asked and Yumi nodded.

"I promise, I don't have your grandchild." They turned to leave, but she reached out and grabbed Yumi's sleeve. "I know who does."

They froze and looked back at her. "Who?" Shishio practically demanded.

"I know you've been so sure that it was me, and I finally figured out why. Her name is Kaori Komoya. Soujiro and her were really great friends. At one time I really thought they were dating behind my back, but they weren't. They got together after we broke up." The didn't say a word, just listened to her speak. "I remember seeing her a few months ago and her telling me that she had a baby, but she didn't want to tell me who the father was. I remember bring up Soujiro and she got nervous and said she had to leave."

"Good." Shishio turned to leave again.

"Please, don't just take her child away. Her baby means everything to her. Just... tell her who you are."

Shishio didn't reply to her as he walked out, Yumi practically running after him. Soon after, strangers came in and unlocked her from her restraints and dragged her to a vehicle. A large white van.

It probably wasn't the right time, but the only thing she could think was, _cliche._

"Are you letting me go?" She asked. Their silent answer was throwing her in the back and quickly entering and driving off.

The ride was fast and uneven. She heard the rain slam against the roof of the vehicle and silently groaned to herself. When they jerked to stop, she almost slammed her head on one of the seats. Not saying a word to her, the slid the door open and tossed her out. She tried to yell out in pain as she hit the wet sidewalk, but her body was in too much pain from the sudden contact. She couldn't see the van, but she heard the tires squeal as they took off.

She tried to turn, but her body screamed in pain. Suddenly a hand was on her shoulder. She turned her head, and squinted as the rain fell into her eyes. "Aoshi?"

He nodded. "Are you alright?"

"Aside from the fact that I can't breathe?" She whispered, laying her head back on the sidewalk.

"I'm going to call an ambulance." He replied. "Don't move."

Kaoru shut her eyes. "Oh, believe me, I'm not going to."

He vaguely heard him on the phone, and then he was back at her side. "They're on their way. Can you tell me where you've been?"

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "In a metal room chained to a wall. If you can figure out where that is, you'll be my hero." She murmured, suddenly exhausted.

He touched her shoulder. "You need to stay awake." He told her.

"You should probably get out of the rain." She replied. She didn't want to stay awake, she just wanted to be left alone.

"I can't move you and I'm sure as hell not leaving you out here."

"Because Misao would be oh-so upset." It was sarcastic and extremely mean, but at the moment, she didn't care.

"When you're feeling better, I'll let her know that you said that."

Kaoru could hear the light humor in his voice. Not soon enough, the ambulance was there, checking her out and loading her onto their gurney. As the put her on it, she cried out in pain.

"Kaoru." Aoshi said her name.

She opened her eyes to look at him.

"I'm going to meet you at the hospital. Is there anyone you'd like me to call?"

"Misao." She muttered.

"Not Himura or Sagara?" He sounded surprised.

"No." She was fading; she could feel it. "Don't want them to worry." As the words left her mouth, her mind went blank and she was in peace.

* * *

Kaoru never wanted to be injured again. She _**hated** _hospitals! Doctors, Megumi in particular, had poked and prodded her with needles, seeing what hurt and what was wrong. Luckily, after much unnecessary testing, she only had a mild concussion and fractured ribs.

"You'll have to stay in for a few days, just to make sure we didn't miss anything." Megumi had told her, a satisfied smile on her face. She walked out of the room but stuck her head back in. "Kaoru, welcome back to the world."

Megumi had known all about her kidnapping and that she'd been missing. While talking to the woman, she'd found out that she'd been missing for almost a week. Kaoru didn't know how she was going to face Kenshin after this. No one knew she was kidnapped. They probably just thought that she took off.

Pulling her out of her thought was a knock on the door frame. She looked over and took in a sharp breathe and felt pain in her ribs. Kenshin stood there, his eyes weary. She didn't say a word as he entered and walked over to her. "I was planning on yelling at you when I saw you, but you look like hell, so I guess I'll wait until you're better." He sighed before sitting on the chair beside her bed.

She nodded. "I'm sorry that I just disappeared like that."

"Don't try to play that card." He growled. "I heard what happened. Why didn't you have Aoshi call me?"

She couldn't look at him, she'd chicken out in telling him the real answer. She looked out the window, watching the rain continuously fall. "I didn't want you to worry. I've been missing for four days. You've had to been busy with Yahiko and work."

"It's going to get more complicated over the next few weeks."

Her head turned slowly, her head slightly pounding. "Why?"

"You're injured and Yahiko is... not doing good." He dropped his head in his hands.

"What's wrong with Yahiko?" She sounded desperate. Why the hell was he still taking her in, too? She'd disappeared, but she'd ask that later.

"I couldn't watch him while I worked." He began, his voice shaky. "I asked Sayo to watch him and she agreed." Kenshin paused, his head still in his hands. "It was raining yesterday too and there was an accident. They aren't doing good."

Kaoru swore his voice broke. "Where is he?"

"Surgery."

She didn't need to hear anymore. She slowly pulled her covers off and began to crawl out of bed. Kenshin's head shot up and he gave her a stunned look. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find Yahiko." She answered.

"There's nothing you can do." He said, gently lifting her legs back on the bed. "You need to get better so when you two come home, you can take care of him."

She looked into his eyes and found sorrow. Her eyes filled with tears as her heart screamed out in pain. "God, this is all my fault." She wanted to slam her head back against her pillow.

"It's not." Kenshin replied.

"It is! They would be in there if I hadn't been gone!" She screamed at him, making a nurse passing by pause and look in on them.

"Kaoru, there's nothing you could have done. Besides, I highly doubt you let Shishio take you." He was trying to reason with her, but she wasn't having it. He sighed in the end. "Your daughter is definitely like you."

"What?" She asked, surprised. What did Tsubame have to do with this?

"Sayo and Yahiko were on the way to see her. She thinks that if she hadn't invited them over, this wouldn't have happened." He took her hand in his. "She knows you were missing so that was weighing on her conscience as well."

"I am such a failure as a mom. As a... whatever I am to Yahiko. As a friend. I'm just a failure as a person. Because of me, all of this happened."

"That's not true and you know it." He squeezed her hand.

"It is true." She wanted to give up.

He stood up and walked over to the top of the bed and gently grabbed her chin. "Kaoru." He said her name again. This was the third time and yet every time it happened it made her heart flutter. Her eyes met his. "You are the best person I've ever known." He admitted.

"Knowing my life, how can you say that?" She asked.

"Because what you're doing in spite of what your life has been like." He pulled the chair to him and sat down again, his hand finding hers again. "When I first met you I was a little put off by your appearance, but your personality really hit something in me and the more I got to know you the more I couldn't stop being around you. You brought something out in me that I liked, and that's no easy feat. You do things that are right by others, even if that means you get the short end of the stick. There's so many great things about you that I wish I had enough time to point out, but it would take eternity. _That_ is what I find in you."

"But-"

"No. Don't argue with me." He smiled gently.

A knock at the door turned their attention to their guest. "Megumi." He greeted.

"I thought that you'd like to know that your son is out of surgery." She said. "If you'd like to go see him, I'll take you."

"Yes, please." He turned back to Kaoru. "I'll come back later."

She nodded. "Tell me how he is."

"I will." He began to walk off but stopped in his tracks before turning back to her. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, but he pressed him mouth firmly against hers. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." He murmured against her lips before following Megumi out.

True to his words, Kenshin came back a few hours later with good news. While he sat with Yahiko, he woke up and they had talked for awhile. "He was so excited to hear that you were okay." He laughed. His attitude was so different from earlier, but she could understand why.

"How's Sayo?" She asked. Even if Yahiko was out of the woods, her cousin's beloved girlfriend wasn't.

"I don't know..." He sighed. "But Megumi and her team are doing everything they can for her." He gave her a sad smile. "She'd never forgive herself if she broke Sano's heart."

"She still loves him." She commented.

"Yeah."

They stayed quiet for a few minutes. "I have a surprise for you." He stated suddenly.

"What is it?" She asked.

He held up his finger while he got out his phone and made a call. "Hey. She's awake." He smiled. "Yeah, hold on. I'm handing the phone over now." He handed her the phone. "I think there's someone who wants to talk to you."

She took the phone nervously and held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

_"Mommy!" _She heard Tsubame scream with joy.

Kaoru laughed at her daughter. "Hey sweetheart. How are you?"

_"Good. I was scared that you went away." _

"Only because I didn't have a choice, but I had to find my way back to you, didn't I?" She smiled and noticed Kenshin watching her intently.

_"Are you with daddy?"_

Kaoru's mouth fell open. "With who?" She saw Kenshin's cringe. Tsubame repeated her question. "And whose daddy?"

_"Kenshin." _Her daughter giggled.

"Ah. Yeah, I am. He's sitting right here actually." She paused. "Baby, can I call you back? Mommy has to have grown up talk, okay?" Tsubame understood and they said their "I love yous" and "goodbyes".

Kaoru hung up the phone and handed it back. "What's this 'daddy' bit?"

"We've been trying to correct her when she says it, but... it's not working to well right now." He finished lamely.

"Apparently." She replied. "It must be awkward."

Kenshin shrugged. "She doesn't mean any harm so I don't mind. As long as she knows the truth about it." By it, he meant that he wasn't her father in any way and had no claim to her.

Later, she and Kenshin were bombarded with visitors. Tomoe and Akira came to visit as well as Enishi, who was ordered to stay in the waiting room. Sanosuke came to visit Sayo and heard that his cousin had admitted. He came to say 'hi' and talk for a few minutes before going back to Sayo. Aoshi had gone to Misao's house, but they had said when she went home they'd come and visit with Tsubame. Finally, as visiting hours were over, Megumi came in to usher everyone out, including Kenshin.

When the next morning came, she was released into Kenshin's custody. He took her home so she could take a bath, with his help much to her embarrassment, and get dressed. Soon after, they returned to the hospital to see Yahiko where they stayed until late into the night. Three weeks passed and he was finally able to go home, where Tsubame, a new permanent part of their family, was waiting for them.

* * *

**_BEST FRIENDS! We're almost done~_**

**_I'm really thankful for everyone whose read this (even if you haven't reviewed. I see all my traffic stats). The end is a little rushed, I'll admit that, but I was running out of things to say and I'm anxious to get to the next chapter._**

**_Yes, no?_**

**_-K_**


	10. Weddings and Love

_**M! Rated M! I'm not going to keep you guessing as to why.**_

_**If you don't like sex (...) don't read the end! Do. Not! I mean, if you don't like sex you can't really miss what's going on. Just don't do it. Anyhoo. It's that time. The time where my Rurouni Kenshin fanfic slowly comes to a close. I still don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Sigh.**_

* * *

Months had passed and the day had finally come: Tomoe was finally getting married to Akira. It was the perfect June day, almost a year since she'd met the Himuras. It was warm, but the light breeze kept everyone from sweating. The guests was so excited; they had been together for so long and this was a very big day for them as well as their guests. They had both decided to invite Kenshin. When the couple first started putting together a list of who there were going to invite, Akira was a little nervous of inviting Kenshin since he wasn't sure if there was hard feelings there or not. Tomoe had finally won in their debate over it, which of course meant that Kaoru had to attend as well.

Kaoru and Kenshin had only been dating for a month and a half, which made her uneasy about being his date to Tomoe's wedding, considering she was still getting used to being with him, but they had all assured her that it was completely fine. It'd even be strange for them if she didn't. At first, Kaoru had refused to go, saying that it wasn't proper, but she quickly changed her mind. After refusing, Yahiko had become upset, not talking to anyone, and because he was upset Tsubame was upset, which made Kaoru feel like the bad guy. Kenshin took it in stride though, calling up Tomoe and asking her to persuade Kaoru to attend. Little did he know she would have attended if she could see her daughter and Yahiko smile again and not be constantly upset. After finally getting her daughter back permanently, they barely left each other's sides. Kenshin barely left either of them, constantly worrying about their safety.

When they arrived, they had run in to Enishi and he was very vocal about his disapproval of them being there, especially Kaoru, but it was quickly broken up by Aoshi and Akira. Even though it was small, the words he had said cut deep and they were heard by everyone. He took one look at her daughter and accused her of being someone else's. Kaoru knew it then; Enishi would never find out the truth of it even though Tomoe already knew. She couldn't keep a secret like that from her newest friend.

The ceremony was beyond amazing. Walking down the isle in an enormous church, Tomoe was escorted by Enishi as Yahiko followed with the rings. Much to everyone's shock and discomfort Tomoe had demanded that Kenshin, Kaoru and Tsubame sat in the front pews. They sat there waiting for Yahiko to join them, which he did eventually. Tomoe and Akira exchange their own unique vows, making people chuckle at times and even had tears were shed.

After the ceremony everyone was ushered outside where the reception was being held. They toasted and then played music with constant dancing.

"She looks so amazing." Kaoru commented, looking Tomoe over again. Her dress was a floor length pure white dress which tied around her neck. It was simple and elegant, which fit her more than any other style.

"Yeah, she does." Kenshin agreed, a small smile on his lips. Any other woman would have given him a death-glare and maybe even a smack but she trusted Kenshin. She knew he thought Tomoe was beautiful, but he meant it in an innocent way. They had been married once and had been in love, but now they just loved each other as good friends. Kenshin slid his fingers around her hand and gave it a quick but firm squeeze. "You look beautiful too."

Kaoru smiled as she unconsciously inspected herself. She wore a floor length indigo casual-formal dress. It wasn't too casual, but she didn't outshine the bride. Her hair was braided down the middle and flung over her shoulder. She wasn't elegant by any means, but it meant a lot that he would compliment her on how she looked as well.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the sudden pressure on her shoulder made her turn around. There she found Aoshi and Misao. "Hey." She smiled.

"Hey." They smiled back. "Tomoe wants to talk to you." Misao said before looking at Kenshin. "Aoshi is going to stay here to keep you company."

"How thoughtful of you." Kenshin muttered.

"Isn't it though?" Both girls laughed before Misao tugged on Kaoru's arm. "Come on."

Kaoru looked down at Tsubame, who was sitting in the chair between Kenshin and herself. "Stay here, okay?" Tsubame nodded before sliding off of her chair and walking up to Kenshin, asking to sit on his lap.

Kaoru gave an apologetic smile before mouthing to him. "Sorry."

He shook his head, silently telling her not to apologize as he picked the little girl up and set her on his lap.

Before she could say anything else, Misao tugged her in the direction of the bride. As they walked towards Tomoe, Kaoru couldn't help but hear the whispers about her from some of the guests.

"She's probably just with him for his money." One woman snickered.

"He could do so much better. She's not even a little bit attractive." Another sneered.

"His standards have definitely dropped... Dating that whore."

Over and over again, people at different tables had pretty much the same thoughts about her. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Misao gave her hand a friendly, reassuring squeeze. "Ignore them." She smiled. "They're petty old hags." Kaoru gave a little chuckle, trying to make the tears disappear.

They finally made it to Tomoe's side. They noticed the woman laugh quietly with her son before turning to look at the girls. When she looked up into Kaoru's face, her smiled dropped into a frown. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Hearing Tomoe's concern, her husband turned around, also noticing Kaoru's watery eyes. "Are you okay?" His words drew Yahiko's eyes as well.

Kaoru wiped the unshed tears away, but shook her head, refusing to answer. Misao patted her back in a soothing gesture. "Some of your guests are being careless about other's feelings and are broadcasting their distaste of your ex-husband's girlfriend."

Tomoe's expression darkened. "Who?"

Kaoru shook her head again. "It doesn't matter."

Tomoe held up her hand. "No. Who?" Still, she refused to answer. "Kaoru, if you don't tell me, I will stop this entire reception and cause a scene." The entire bridal table stopped and looked at her nervously.

Akira leaned over to his bride, whispering in her ear, only loud enough for Yahiko, Kaoru and Misao to hear. "Don't do anything drastic, please."

She replied, telling him that she wasn't going to sit around being insulted. Her dear friend was being insulted and in turn that was an insult to her.

"Please Tomoe, don't worry about it. I'm just being a little too emotional."

Tomoe froze. "Are you...?"

Kaoru tilted her head to the side. "Am I what?"

"You know..." _Pregnant. _She mouthed the last word.

Her eyes widened. "No, oh geez, no." She met Misao's gaze. "Is that what you got from that too?"

Misao only laughed and shook her head.

Kaoru cleared her thoat. "No, I'm not. I promise." She changed topics before the bride could comment. "Misao said you wanted to see me."

Her eyes widened. "Ah, yes." She smiled. "I know the summer is my time to have Yahiko, but I don't think he wants to be with us on our honeymoon. Would you and Kenshin mind keeping him? I won't ask for extra time, I promise."

That put a smile on her face as she looked at the boy beside his mother. "Are you sure?"

Tomoe smiled back. "Yes."

"Of course I want him for the summer! Why are asking me and not Kenshin, though?"

"Kenshin trusts and agrees with your decisions. Besides, I just wanted to talk to you some more." The girls smiled at each other and began to talk about unimportant things, all the while they laughed and giggled and soon after they were joined by Megumi. The women talked a bit more and then they dispersed as Akira asked for a dance with his new wife.

The small group walked to the dance floor and Kaoru and Misao broke away from the two, returning to their table. Unfortunately, Enish was there, trying to create problems and definitely causing a scene. She stopped in her tracks at the words she heard. "How dare you bring your whore to my sister's wedding!" He roared, nearly repeating his earlier words. She wanted to laugh at the irony of his statement, considering once upon a time _he _had been the one to make her feel like a whore, but this was not a laughing matter. "Tomoe may be willing to put up with it, but I'm not."

Kaoru saw Kenshin's hand curl into a fist. _'Please don't hit him.'_ She thought to herself, unconsciously taking a small step forward.

His voice was dark, but calm. "She's not a whore." He paused. "Enishi, if I were you, I'd shut up before you made a bitter fool of yourself than you already have."

"Of course she's a whore." Enishi growled. "That's the reason you and my sister didn't work out; you're only worth a whore's time."

Without thinking, Kenshin flipped him off. Enraged at the disrespect he was shown, Enishi went after him.

After the incident with Shishio, Kaoru had asked Kenshin had about his violent streak, and even though she'd seen it once or twice, he had told her the horrible things he did, the horrible things that he could do and how he despised himself, but now she realized why he hated that part of himself. It's like he lost control, like the 'monster' in him had all the say and Kenshin could only sit back and watch helplessly. His eyes turned amber as he caught Enishi as the man charged. As soon as it started, it was over. Quickly flipping him on the ground, he slid the knife off the table and had it against his throat.

Witnessing the commotion, everyone froze as if one breath would ensure Enishi's doom. The crowd on the floor parted like the red sea as Tomoe came forward. Everyone expected her to yell at her ex-husband, demanding he let her brother go as well as demanding that he leave, but she did the complete opposite. She gave her brother a very irritated look and didn't even bother to help him. "Enishi, I invited the both of them because I wanted to."

Against the sharp blade, he replied as best as he could. "You know I hate him."

"Then you can leave him off your invite list when you get married." She shrugged.

"Tomoe-" He started, but the blade pressed deeper, but lessened as he heard Kaoru suck in a quick breath.

The bride acted as if she hadn't noticed a thing. "This is my wedding, Enishi. It was a mutual decision between Akira and I. I don't need your permission to invite anyone."

Suddenly, a small hand was reaching for the knife, pulling everyone's attention away from Enishi.

Kaoru reeled in to action as Tsubame placed her hand on the dangerous weapon. "Kenshin." Kaoru gasped, practically tripping over herself trying not to run to her daughter.

It was too late. Tsubame's tiny hand grasped the silver blade.

Kenshin gave Tsubame a dangerous look. "Go to your mother." His voice low and harsh, like he could lose complete control at any moment.

Tsubame merely shook her head. "You don't want to hurt anyone, daddy."

The words that escaped her mouth had given them all pause, even Kenshin himself.

The young girl had called Kenshin 'daddy' a few times before and they had tried their best to correct her, but she still continued to call him that, and every time she did, his heart melted. Taking a deep breath, he tried to regain control of himself. Slowly, he unwrapped her tiny fingers and took the knife away from Enishi's throat and pushed him forward, making him land face first on the ground. He put the sharp object down on the table and swept the child up in his arms.

"Tomoe, you're going to just sit there while he just tried to kill me?" Her brother whined.

She didn't try to baby him at all. "If you had called Akira a whore I would have wanted to cut your throat too." She took her husband's hand and led him back to the middle of the dance floor where she made a public announcement. "It's come to my attention that there has been some rude and very inappropriate things said about Kaoru. I refuse to to accept that. She's a great friend and you will all treat her with respect." _You don't want to know what will happen if you don't_ was left unsaid.

Nobody spoke; they were shocked. Tomoe had never spoken out like that.

Kenshin nervously walked over to Kaoru, wondering if he was going to take her daughter and stay as far away as possible from him after his actions. When he reached her side, she wrapped her arm around his waist, and he in turn, did the same. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am now." They briefly received quick, startled looks from other guests before they directed their attention back to the bride but she didn't say anything else. She just pulled her husband's hand and began to dance as the music played.

Couples left and right began to join in and soon Kenshin released Tsubame so that she could go sit with Yahiko, telling her that she needed to spend as much time with him as possible.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as his were already around her waist and they began to sway to the soft melody. "I have some news for you."

He looked down at her. "I have some for you as well."

She could only smile. "You first."

He leaned down and kissed her before whispering in her ear. "I love you."

Her eyes widened as did her smile. He'd never said those words to her and in truth, she never thought that she would hear them. "I love you too." She rested her forehead against his shoulder.

They stayed like that well into the next song. "So what's your news?" He finally asked.

Keeping her head on his shoulder, she pressed her lips against his neck before answering. "We get to keep Yahiko for the summer."

He pulled back from her, searching her eyes. "What?"

She gave a soft laugh at his reaction. "Tomoe asked me if we wanted Yahiko for the summer. She won't ask for extra time with him, but she doesn't think he'll have fun with them while they're on their honeymoon." She explained.

He leaned down and kissed her lips. They jumped apart as they heard an cheer go up. Looking over, they saw Tomoe, who was still dancing with her husband and Misao who was leaning against Aoshi making hooting sounds and catcalls, and soon, the rest of the guests did as well, although with less enthusiasm, but only because they didn't want to piss off the bride any more.

Laughing, he pulled her to his chest.

She laughed as well before she buried her forehead against his shoulder trying to hide her embarrassment.

The reception went on without anymore drama and as night fell, Yahiko, Tsubame, Kenshin and Kaoru left to head home after wishing the new happy couple all the happiness in the world.

The children were asleep in the back seat as Kenshin drove them home. Kenshin's left hand guided the steering wheel while his right hand rested on the compartment between him and Kaoru. "I'm sorry that I lost it today."

She looked at him, the darkness covering his features. "Why are you apologizing?"

He didn't look at her. "I could have killed him today."

"A part of me wishes you would have." She looked back at Tsubame. "I heard what he said." She sat back in her seat. "In your own little way, you were defending me."

"You're one of the most important people in my life. I couldn't stand what he was saying. Something inside me just snapped." He explained, his voice a little louder than a whisper.

Kaoru smiled as she found his hand with hers and intertwined their fingers. "I know." They stayed that way until they reached the driveway. They got out and got their children, carrying them inside and changing them for bed.

As soon as Tsubame and Yahiko were in their beds, Kaoru met Kenshin downstairs in her pajamas. "I can't believe that they're that tired." She smiled.

"It's been a pretty eventful day." Kenshin reasoned. He looked her up and down. "Pandas. That's sweet."

She looked down at herself. Her shirt and matching shorts were tan with pandas climbing bamboo trees. "Are you mocking my pajamas?"

He gave a soft laugh. "No, they're cute. Surprisingly, they match you nicely."

"I'm not sure how to take that." She smiled.

"That's okay." He slid his hand down her arm until it made contact with her own hand. He grabbed it and slowly led her up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" She asked as they passed her room.

They stopped at his closed door and he glanced at her, waiting for her reaction.

"Kenshin..." She didn't know what to say.

"We aren't going to do anything you don't want to do." He touched her arm soothingly. "I just want you to stay with me tonight."

"Are you sure?"

He smiled at her innocent question. "Yes." He opened the door and pulled her in. She'd been in his room once or twice, but he'd never stayed it in. "I'm going to go get ready for bed." He swept his hand across the bed in front of her eyes. "Make yourself comfortable."

He began to walk into the bathroom and she asked, "What side of the bed is yours?" She didn't want to intrude.

He didn't come out as he answered. "Whichever side you're not taking." She smiled and laughed nervously. She couldn't move; she just sat there frozen, unsure of what to do. When he came out, he gave her a nervous look. "Are you okay?"

"I- I'm not really sure what to do." She confessed.

He smiled and took her hand, pulling her off the bed and walking around it with her. He lightly pushed her onto the bed and pointed at the pillow. "First, you're going to get under the covers and second, you're going to lay your head here." He pointed to the pillow.

"Smarty-pants." She stuck her tongue out before she followed his instructions has he made his way to the other side.

He got under the covers and then turned out the lights. "Are you still nervous?" He asked her.

"Not so much." She replied honestly, before pushing herself back, up against him. "Kenshin?"

"What is it?" He wrapped his arm around her waist as he pulled her close.

"I love you." She paused. "At the hospital you told me why you thought I was the best person you've ever known. At the time, I didn't know how to reply. Not because I didn't know, but because I was so shocked that you felt that way. Honestly, I feel the same way. You're everything to me, baggage and all. I can't see my life without you... and really, I don't want to." When he didn't say anything, she turned over to see if he had fallen asleep, but instead he looked deep in thought. "Kenshin?"

"Will you marry me?" He suddenly asked.

"What?" She was taken back by his sudden question. She couldn't lay like this if he was going to start such a serious question. Pulling out of his embrace, she turned her body to lay facing him.

"Not right now, of course. But will you marry me?"

She should think about it, it was a big step but she had just told him that he was everything to her. She didn't need to think about it. She ran her hand through his hair, letting it slide through her fingers as she her hand traveled down his shoulder to his chest. Looking into his eyes, she smiled. "Yes." She leaned forward to kiss him.

He gently pulled back seconds later. "Yes?"

She pressed her lips against his again. "Yes." Between kisses she let out soft giggles. "I love you." She murmured against his lips.

He smiled. "I love you too." He kissed her back multiple times. He was content with this, as long as she was close to him. As long as she was by his side, he'd be happy for the rest of his life.

She wanted to believe that this was too good to be true. But it wasn't; it was too good to be wrong. This was perfect and they both deserved this happiness. Suddenly feeling bold, she inconspicuously let her hand wander to the elastic part of his pajama pants. Her hand didn't get any further before his hand came into contact with hers, suddenly jerking it away.

"Kaoru..." He started, but stopped when he saw the startled look in her eyes.

Kaoru wrapped her fingers around the hand that had pulled hers away. "You said we wouldn't do anything I wasn't comfortable with." She stated.

"I don't want you to think we have to-"

"I want to." She interrupted. "I love you. I want to be with you."

He stared at the reflection he saw in her eyes, silently arguing with himself if they should do this. He finally gave in with his inner battle and nodded. "Only if you're sure."

She leaned forward to kiss him. "I'm sure."

Kenshin locked his lips with hers. He wanted to take this slow. He hadn't had many relationships after his divorce with Tomoe, in fact, he didn't even know if he could call them relationships. The women that were with him had just been there for the sex. There was no commitment. It was fast and rough and it didn't leave any emotional attachments between either of them, whoever they were. With Kaoru it was different. Whether they really went through with this tonight or not, he would still love her and they would still be together emotionally. He refused to let this be like one of his quick flings; he wanted this to be slow. He needed it to be. This wasn't just for either of them, it was for both of them.

His hands slowly made their way to the bottom of her shirt, lifting it up. They quickly separated their lips as he bought the garment over her head. Just as soon as they had separated, they were on each other again. Kenshin gently ran his hands over her soft breasts, and in return she made a small gasping noise in his mouth.

Kaoru ran her hands down his arms and to his hands, where he was touching her. She'd had sex before, of course, but she still wasn't sure what to do. Nervously, one hand let go of his as she made her way back to his waistband. She held it there waiting for him to stop her again, but his hand didn't intercept her this time. Slowly, she slid her hands inside his pants, coming in to contact with his already hard member. Gently, she wrapped her hand around him and he pulled away from her mouth with a hiss.

"Are you alright?" She asked, slightly alarmed at his sudden movement.

He clenched and unclenched his jaw. "Perfect." He replied, smiling at her innocent question. He nibbled her shoulder, whispering sweet things to her, mostly about how much he loved her. Removing one of his hands from her breast, he replaced it with his mouth, reveling at the taste of his skin. He was delighted to hear her silently moan his name.

"Kenshin." She gasped, her hands releasing his member to cover his head as be played with her erect nipple with his tongue. That's when she felt it. Without realizing it, his hand had made it's way passed her pants and into her panties. "I love you." She panted as he began to rub her sensitive nub.

His mouth met hers once again. "I love you too." One moment they lay beside each other and the next, he was hovering over her. He didn't waste any time as he sunk a finger into her.

It took all she had not to cry out at the invasion. She was already in ecstasy. She felt his finger begin to slowly pump against her walls, and soon she joined in, matching the rhythm. She was panting as she wrapped her arms around his back. As Kenshin's finger slid out and began to slide in, she felt him add another finger, making her groan. She couldn't take it! She let go of him and made her way to where his fingers were inside of her. Grabbing on to him, she held him there as her walls clenched around him. "I can't wait anymore." She whispered.

He let out a breathy chuckle as he withdrew his fingers from her. He leaned towards his nightstand and pulled out a condom. After putting it on, he placed his arm by the side of her head, he positioned himself between her now wide spread legs and ever so slowly, he entered her.

Kaoru's breath caught in her throat at the foreign sensation. She wanted to cry out from the pleasure, but the fullness of him left her dazed, until he started rocking back and forth against her; slow at first and then faster. She pulled her legs up towards her chest, giving him more access while meeting him thrust for thrust, intensifying pleasure for the both of them. Kaoru let an erotic moan escape before she slammed her hand over her mouth, her eyes widening at the sound. Never had she made a sound like that.

Kenshin dipped his head down, his hair creating a curtain around her face. He kissed her lips before he nibbled on her earlobe. "Don't." He breathed into her ear. "I like hearing the sound of your pleasure."

Her cheeks heated with embarrassment at his words. Reaching up, she circled her arms around his sweaty shoulders. Pulling him down to her, she panted loudly in his ear with every thrust. She felt so close to losing control. "I-I-I-" She couldn't even start a sentence with him pounding against her. It was like her brain wasn't working; all it could do was focus on the intense pleasure.

"I know." His voice was strained. He couldn't handle his control anymore. Leaving one arm holding him up, he wrapped the other around her, pulling her against his chest. Their release was so close as they frantically pumped against each other until Kenshin's arm tightened around her. She couldn't scream out her pleasure like she wanted to, so she gently bit down on his shoulder. He gently lay her down on the bed as he placed himself on top of her. They stayed silent for a few minutes while the caught their breath.

Kaoru held him against her. "That was amazing."

He nodded against her shoulder. "More than I can ever describe."

"I could have been more... active." She observed. "You practically did everything."

He pulled himself off of her body, but didn't move away from her. "Sweetheart, you were very 'active', as you said it. Your responses were amazing." She gave him a slightly disbelieving look. "Don't do that to yourself." He kissed her cheek before sliding off of her, off of the bed and heading towards the bathroom. "You were perfect, Kaoru." He disappeared from her eyes. She rolled over and pulled the covers up to cover herself. She knew he was back when she felt the bed decline on his side. "Are you okay?" He asked, wrapping his arm around her waist yet again.

"Yeah." She said, leaning against him.

"Still doubting yourself?" He asked.

"Maybe." She admitted.

He sighed. "Don't regret this."

"I don't." She replied automatically. "It's just-"

"Stop." He tightened his arm around her. "You're not a virgin, but that doesn't mean you can't be inexperienced." She turned her head to look at him while he spoke. "Whether you believe me or not, that was beyond amazing. If you didn't enjoy how you performed, we can work on that. Anything you want to do."

She looked into his eyes. "Okay..."

He couldn't say anything else to her about it. "Good night." He kissed her cheek.

"Good night." She smiled and snuggled up to him.

"Kaoru." He said a few minutes later.

"Hmm?"

"It really was perfect."

"I know." She murmured before sleep overtook her.

* * *

**_My hot, steamy scene totally sucked. I know. You can say it. I read it.. and then reread and I laughed at how idiotic it sounded. Just... do me a favor, pretend it didn't suck. Use your imagination or something. Fill in the blanks. :P_**

**_One more chapter and "What I Find In You" will be completed. Happy days. :)_**

**_-K_**


	11. Epilogue

**_Me: My personal opinion. I'm such a nice person. I really wanted to make you sweat for the last chapter, but what did I do? I stayed up til 2AM and edited this chapter just for you guys. Just. For. You. So what am I going to do now? Upload it. That's right. Here is the last chapter of "What I Find In You"._****  
**

**This is the last chapter of my first Rurouni Kenshin (which I still do not own) fanfiction. Sigh. Sniffle sniffle. It's been a good journey, and I hope you've all loved how the story went. As I said in chapter one, I was going to explain why my stories have similar story lines or at least similar endings. I have this thing about at the end of the road, you're always going to have a family. I don't think people should be alone. If you're meant to be with each other, why play and dance around each other? Get right to the point, and all of that. That's pretty much why I do it. I mean, what person, or girl at least, doesn't dream of having their own little family (if you're a girl and you don't think this- I apologize. To each their own, that's a very normal decision as well).**

**Here we go, last chapter. Still don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Never will, unfortunately.**

* * *

_3 Years Later_

It was an early Saturday morning on a cool spring day when Kaoru first woke up. Turning over she looked at the alarm clock. 9:30AM. _'What the hell?'_ She bolted up out of bed as fast as she could. She glanced around the room. _'I never sleep this late.'_ She thought to herself as she reached for her robe. After she slid it on, she walked out of her room, downstairs and into the kitchen, trying to find her family.

Kenshin and Kaoru had been married for a little more than a year and a half and they were as happy and in love as ever, if not more so. Living under the same roof, Yahiko and Tsubame had become what seemed like best friends, and that always made Kaoru smile.

Tsubame now knew that Kenshin was not her biological father, but she still claimed him as such. In fact, months before they got married, Kenshin and Kaoru had talked and he ended up legally adopting her. Every time she called him 'daddy' they all smiled and laughed at her innocence. It took Yahiko awhile to get used to someone else calling his dad that, but he never said anything to Tsubame about it. How could he?

Kaoru and Tomoe had become great friends and they had come to a very unusual understanding as far as Yahiko was concerned. Instead of spending the a weekend to weeks at a time with his mother, Yahiko just had play dates with his mom and his half-siblings. Her and Akira were living the fairy tale dream, which really didn't surprise anyone. Tomoe had given birth to two beautiful daughters who looked so much like their father.

Misao and Aoshi were still at a dating level in their relationship, but were expecting their first child. Around their friends, Aoshi didn't make a big deal out of the pregnancy like Misao did, but they all knew he was happy and excited, as well as a little nervous. Behind closed doors though, there was no mistaking that he was thrilled about their baby. Misao always told Kaoru, Megumi and Tomoe of the way he acted when they were alone together in their home, and they all smiled and laughed. From what she expressed, it was completely out of character.

Sayo ended up dying of her injuries shortly after Tomoe's wedding; her sickness didn't help anything, in fact it made it worse. Her death left Sano completely alone. He thought he'd end up like Kaoru, alone on the street, but Megumi had stepped in. While paying for her funeral, she offered to help him get on his feet and whatever else he needed. Two years later, Megumi and Sanosuke were dating but taking it slow. Megumi never tried to take the place of Sayo in Sanosuke's heart and he understood and appreciated that. He had at one point told her that Sayo was always going to be in his heart, but Megumi owned it.

She had run into Enishi again a few months after her marriage to Kenshin. He had nothing good to say about her husband or about her but she stood there and took it, not letting it affect her at all. At the end of his rant, she had shook her head at him. "Enishi," she had started, "I have everything I could possibly want. A family, friends, a home... but you, all you have is your family, or those who can stand you. What does that say about you?" The conversation had ended when Misao had come to her side and asked to her come with her, only to get her away from the situation.

She'd never heard from Enishi or Yumi again. Though she did see Kaori one day. She had said that she got ahold of her baby's father's parents and they were all living together and they were happy. And even though they had put her through so much, Kaoru was happy for them too.

Kaoru walked through the kitchen and back into the living room. "Kenshin!" She yelled against the silence. When no one answered, she walked outside to see if his car was there. It wasn't. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair out of frustration. Walking back inside, she went to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Looking down, her eyes widened at the note she saw that was written for her.

_Kaoru,_

_I took Yahiko and Tsubame with me to go shopping. I know you were going to go this week, but I don't want you to go by yourself. We'll be home soon. I love you._

_-Kenshin_

She couldn't help but laugh. He was so worried about her, all the time if felt like. They were expecting their first child together and he was a nervous wreck. She kind of felt bad for him, but he didn't have anything to worry about. The pregnancy was going smoothly and she only had a few weeks left. Megumi called her every day to see how she was feeling and how her contractions were.

Kaoru smiled as she gently rubbed her swollen belly. She was surprised they'd never gotten pregnant before this one. After their first time together, he had been a little hesitant before finally confessing that she felt like she didn't know what she was doing. Kenshin had been right there to talk her through it. He had showed her what he liked her to do and together, they found out what she liked as well. They'd had a very healthy sex life afterwards, and even after she found out she was pregnant, until Kenshin said he didn't want to hurt the baby, though she doubt he could even if he wanted to... but they tended to get a little rough. She had pointed out that he was very gentle with her and had been since they found out, but still he wouldn't have any of that until after the baby was born. She leaned over slightly and grabbed a pen.

Flipping the paper over, she wrote her own note.

_Kenshin,_

_I hope you get everything, because if you don't I'm going whether you like it or not. I should be mad at you, but I'm not since I know what this is doing to you. You're not okay with letting me walk in a crowded grocery store by myself but you're perfectly fine with leaving me upstairs at home? Thanks. I missed you when I woke up. I love you._

_-Kaoru_

She left the note where it was and went upstairs to take a shower. She wondered if she should have written anything in return. What was the actual chance of him reading it? Considering he wrote it, maybe he'd check to see if she'd read it. She wasn't going to worry about it though. It was just a note. The shower was relaxing, which was what she needed, but like Kenshin a little part of her was nervous about being alone. What if something did actually happened? Thinking about it just upset her and fried her nerves, which she blamed on her husband. Her skin was beginning to prune, so she finally stepped out and got dressed. Making her way to the bed, she noticed a little note on her pillow.

_I love you more._

He was home, no; they were home. She smiled. Since when did they start using notes to communicate? She sighed as she slowly made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen where Yahiko and Tsubame were. She made her way to the counter and leaned on it a little.

"Are you okay?" Yahiko asked, starting to slide out of his chair.

"I'm fine, sweetie." She smiled and motioned for him to sit back in his seat. Yahiko was now twelve and was quickly growing up. He wasn't quite as tall as she was, but given a few more years, he'd definitely shoot passed her in height. "How long have you guys been home?" She asked.

"Maybe ten minutes." Tsubame answered from her seat. She was eight, the age Yahiko was when she Kaoru first met him. She was doll and was quickly fitting in. Tsubame was probably the one who voiced her opinion the loudest on how excited she was about this baby.

"Where's your dad at?"

"He's in his office." Tsubame answered, giving her mom a loving smile.

"Thank you, darling." She walked over to them and planted small kisses on their heads before making her way to the door.

As she entered, she noticed Kenshin talking on the phone to someone, giving her his back. She stood there eavesdropping. She knew she shouldn't, but she didn't want to interrupt him and she didn't want to have to walk out and walk back in again.

"Yeah." She heard him answer to the person he was talking to. "She's doing okay." He paused. "I think we're both nervous. Can you blame us?" He laughed at whatever the other person said, and it made her curious as to who he was talking to. "Yeah, yeah." He sighed. "She's in the shower right now."

Kaoru walked forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, making him jump. She couldn't help but laugh at his reaction and he relaxed into her embrace.

"Or maybe not." He muttered. "Oh nothing, she's out of the shower. I'll talk to you later." He hung up after saying another goodbye and then turned to face her. "Hey." He gave her a charming smile.

"Hey." She smiled. "Who was that?" She asked as he stood up.

"Hiko..." Kenshin's uncle had been a steady part of their lives since they announced their engagement. He payed for their wedding and offered to buy them a new home as a gift, though they both declined, saying that the house they were living in was just fine. He'd offered again when he found out Kaoru was pregnant, but their house still had plenty of room. "Ask in the next ten years" she had joked before. Kenshin had told her he would too. "He wanted to see how you were doing so close to your due date... and to laugh at me." He gave a frustrated sigh.

Slowly reaching out, she pulled him to her, gently running her fingers through his flaming red hair. "What's wrong?"

He gave her small smile. "Nothing. It's just been a hectic morning. Work called, wanting to me to come in." He wrapped his arms around her waist.

She pulled away from him slightly. "What are you still doing here?"

"Well, I'm not going, in case that wasn't obvious." He leaned down to kiss her.

She smiled against his lips. "You know they wouldn't call you unless it was important."

"There's nothing important enough to take me away from you right now."

"Charming." She replied sarcastically.

"I thought so." He smiled at her.

She didn't mean to just throw this at him, but it sort of fell out of her mouth before she could stop it. "I was thinking about getting a job after the baby is old enough."

He didn't miss a beat. "No."

"Kenshin..."

"I said no." He said in a dismissive voice as though his word was law.

She turned slightly defensive as she pushed against him, wanting him to let her go. "I'm your wife, not your child; don't take that tone with me."

He sighed but kept a hold on her. "Kaoru, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"I know..." She sighed as well. "I just... I don't want to be completely dependent on you for everything."

"I'm just as dependent on you as you are of me." He stated, earning a confused and disbelieving look. He leaned close to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "You're the only one I trust to take care of our family while I'm not here."

"They aren't going to always be little." She argued.

He touched her nose with his. "We'll figure it out when we get there." He kissed her again, but this kiss was different; it was a slow and deep, one that touched the soul.

They finally pulled apart and her breathing was heavy. "I love you." She whispered.

He touched his forehead to hers. "I love you too." He took her hand into his and led her out of his office, towards the kitchen.

"Where are we going?" Kaoru asked.

"I thought we'd go spend some time with our children." He smiled.

She struggled a little. "Kenshin, your job-" He cut her off.

He gently put his hand over her mouth. "Screw my job. They can live without me for two days."

"What if they can't?" She questioned.

"Then they deserve to be fired." He shrugged. "I'm a married man with a family and a baby on the way. Why can't the call and bitch at Aoshi?" He sighed.

"Because you're the boss." She stuck her tongue out. "You need to go." She said again.

He completely ignored her.

"Kenshin."

"Kaoru." He looked at his children as they entered the room. "Is mom being ridiculous?"

"Yes." Yahiko answered, sticking out his tongue. He almost always took his father's side.

"Tsubame?"

"Sorry mom." She whispered.

She gently pulled away from Kenshin and walked to the sink. "Okay, fine..."

"Kaoru." Kenshin called to her, unsure of her feelings. He never knew now that she was pregnant.

Turning around, she sprayed them all with the water. "How's that for ridiculous?" She laughed as they ran from the cold liquid. She sprayed in all directions and made mock evil laughs.

That's when she gasped and dropped the water sprayer. Kenshin made it to her side first and grabbed her hand. "What is it?"

She squeezed his hand as pain shot through her. She tried to control her breathing, but it was hard. "Contraction." She breathed out.

"Mom?" Tsubame asked.

Yahiko looked at her. "That means it's almost time, right?"

They both nodded. "Yeah." Kaoru smiled, though it looked pained. "I'm not sure how much longer, but it's not going to be too long." She looked at Kenshin. "I think our son is almost ready to join the world."

He smiled and laughed before turning to his children. "Are you guys ready for the new addition?" And they both nodded. Picking her up, he took her to the living room and placed her on the couch.

The rest of the day, Kaoru was forced to stay in the living room in case another contraction hit, they wanted to be right there. "You guys." She finally said as the sun set. "I've still got a couple weeks. He's not going to come today."

Tsubame hesitated and then nodded. "If you're sure."

"I am." Kaoru smiled at her daughter. "Go ahead and go do something. You too Yahiko."

Yahiko walked over to Tsubame and grabbed her hand, leading her up the stairs. "That's code for 'leave so I can have some time alone with your dad'."

Kaoru laughed as she gently threw a pillow in their direction, causing them to look back. "That's not what it means." She stuck her tongue out.

"Sure." Yahiko was getting lippier by the day. Kaoru heard Tsubame giggle and she could help but laugh as well. Even Kenshin gave a small laugh.

He draped his arm around the back of the couch, circling her shoulders. "Have I told you that I love you?"

She nodded and smiled. "But I love hearing it."

"I love you."

She got butterflies in her stomach every time he said it, and she doubted that that would ever change. "I love you too."

They kissed each other, sealing their love.

* * *

**Guys! That's it. The end of "What I Find In You". I really, really, really hope you all enjoyed the story. I really do want some critiques, thoughts, comments, concerns. ANYTHING. Haha. Please. I really enjoyed writing this one, really, really, really. **

**I love you all for reading this.**

**-K**


	12. Extra: Songlist

_Okay, just because I have nothing better to do with my time and finishing this story and hyped me up, I'm going to give you the playlist of what helped/inspired me to write the fanfiction. _

_This isn't in any particular order. They're just songs I listened to while writing. Songs help me write. :)_

_ So here we go. _

She Will Be Loved: Maroon 5

I Dreamed A Dream: Glee Cast

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again: The Phantom of the Opera

Tears of An Angel: RyanDan

Be My Baby: Wonder Girls

Stereo Hearts: Gym Class Heroes Ft. Adam Levine

Stereo Love: Edward Maya and Vica Jigulina

My Love, My Kiss, My Heart: Super Junior

My All Is In You: Super Junior

Run This Town: Lucy Hale

Make You Believe: Lucy Hale

Knockin': Freddie Stroma

Bless Myself: Lucy Hale

We Found Love: Rihanna (Yeah, I did. Blame Spotify.)

I'm A Survivor: Reba

Top Girl:

Hate You: 2NE1

Unfriend You: Greyson Chance

Ready Steady Go!: L'arc~en~Ciel

A Good Day for Love to Die: The Wanted

Fantastic Baby: Big Bang

Ultimate KPOP: Masamixes

Dynamite: Taio Cruz

Fireflies: Owl City

FLY: Super Junior KRY

Good Life: One Republic

L'Ultima Notte: Josh Groban

Let This Die: Brian Joo

Love Like This: SS501

Merry Go Round: Tanner Patrick

Mr. Simple: Super Junior

Sherlock: SHINee

Speeding Cars: Imogen Heap

Intuition: CNBlue

Tick Tack: UKISS

True: Exist Trace

Warzone: The Wanted

_Honestly, this list does NOT look long enough, but I guess it could be pretty accurate. :) Anyway, enjoy. Yes, I recommend you listen to the songs that you haven't heard before._


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